


Flesh and Bone

by ZsGurl



Series: White Flag [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Erwin has a crush, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Levi can't handle his emotions, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:41:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25140283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZsGurl/pseuds/ZsGurl
Summary: When her squad captain, Erwin Smith, asks her to work with the new member of the squad as a personal favor, experienced veteran Angel Hudson can't refuse. No matter how badly she wants to. But things don't always turn out as expected, and people aren't always what they seem.“Angel, come here,” he said softly. She jerked her gaze up from his belt and obeyed his command, walking toward him as if in a daze. He placed a hot, open-mouthed kiss on her lips as she stopped in front of him, making her groan as he slid his hands up under her shirt to the smooth skin of her waist. He stroked the rough pads of his thumbs across the tender skin just under her breasts. Then he waited. He knew the wine had loosened her inhibitions, and she would eventually tell him what she wanted if he was patient. And Levi was a very patient man.“Tell me what you’re going to do to me,” she whispered in his ear, sending chills down his spine, making his groin tighten as she ran her tongue along the outer shell of his ear. He bit the inside of his cheek for control. She loved it when he got vulgar. He pulled away from her and began slowly circling her speculatively, like a predator evaluating his prey.
Relationships: Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: White Flag [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1867147
Comments: 9
Kudos: 79





	1. Broken Wings

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my attempt at introducing an OC into SNK. I try to follow canon as much as I can, taking a few liberties here and there. I am most intrigued at figuring out what kind of woman would be a good fit for our boy, Levi. Please forgive me some of the trials I have our duo endure before getting their act together. Lots of smut to come, eventually. Enjoy!

It had been six months since Levi Ackerman and his merry band of criminals had joined the Survey Corps. During that time, many changes had occurred, some of which can be laid at Ackerman’s feet, some not. Erwin Smith gained recognition for his true tactical genius in coming up with the long range formation and signal system. Word had it around camp that he was getting promoted. Angel Hudson was happy for him. Not only was he tactically brilliant, but an impassioned leader who inspired those around him. She also secretly felt he hid a determined ruthlessness under all that blonde charm, and he would need that to navigate the treacherous political waters he was wading into. However, Angel was hoping his promotion wouldn’t keep him from the field as he was a good fighter and handy to have at your back. She liked having him as her squad captain.

As for Ackerman, he and his group didn’t play well with others and seemed determined to disrupt everything about the military system: from the training regimen, to their complete disrespect and insubordination, to the way he held his blades. But one thing was inarguable: he was the most incredible killing machine the Corps had ever seen. There was no match for his astonishing speed and strength. And while there were still small grumblings about letting a common street thug who hadn’t even gone through cadet training into their midst, no one dared to say anything to him personally. Not anymore.

It was easy to remember what happened to the last couple of guys who dared to challenge Ackerman. He had come across two of the bigger guys that had cornered his friend, Isabel, after dinner one night. The mess hall was pretty quiet as most had moved on to their evening duties or entertainments. Even though she was outnumbered against two larger men who were taunting her, Isabel was holding her own with a high level of sass, as was her way. It was at this time when Levi happened upon the group. Reilo, the less intelligent of the two men, zeroed in on Levi as the true target of his animosity since Levi had bested him in training the day before. After hurling a number of insults at Ackerman, who coolly dismissed Reilo with an icy gaze that said he couldn’t be bothered to respond and turned to walk away, Reilo made the near fatal mistake of grabbing Ackerman’s arm. Three months later, you could still visit Reilo in the infirmary, where he was taking his meals through a straw.

Surprisingly, Ackerman was beginning to earn the respect of his comrades. His fighting skills were impressive, he was brutally honest, had a keen eye for strategy, and was not afraid to dive into the most dangerous situations. But he wasn’t reckless or foolhardy. Everything he did was with a purpose and with singular precision. That was something his fellow soldiers could respect. He also was quiet and had kept to himself since the untimely death of the two friends who came with him. That was another trait they could respect: they all understood about grief.

It was her understanding of grief that led to Angel standing in front of his table, where Ackerman sat eating alone, one evening six months after his arrival. She was hoping to reach out to him and show him that they all were united with common goals and common struggles and that most of them sympathized with what he was going through. Maybe break through some of that icy exterior of his so he could join them as comrades. The scent of coffee and potatoes hung in the air of the mess hall as Angel stood quietly waiting for him to stop eating and acknowledge her presence. At first she didn’t think he would, as he rudely continued eating. Then with a heavy sigh, he slowly put down his utensils, sat back in his chair and leveled an impatient gaze at her with those gunmetal grey eyes.

“Ackerman”, she started, meeting his gaze, “I wanted to let you know that I am sorry about the loss of your friends. They – “.

“Can you skip to the end of the fucking speech so I can finish eating? Bullshit tends to diminish my appetite”, he interrupted in a low monotone. Angel was taken aback at the lack of emotion in his eyes.

As she stuttered to a halt at his rudeness and glared at him, he cocked a jet black eyebrow at her in question. The last vestiges of sunlight were slanting in the large windows on the western wall and highlighted the sharp planes of his face.

Refusing to be baited by his insolent attitude, Angel smiled sweetly at him and softly said, “I apologize. I mistook you for someone who honored their fallen friends and respected their sacrifice. Be assured it won’t happen again. I’ll leave you to your meal.”

Without changing his cold expression, Levi slowly rose from his seat. Outwardly, he seemed unaffected, but she could detect a slight crack in his demeanor. The mess hall went silent as those present became aware of the leashed violence and animosity emanating from their corner of the room. Unperturbed, she locked gazes with his steel grey eyes and they stood that way for a full minute as everyone held their breath. Finally, Angel had had enough. It was ridiculous to stand here wasting time with him when she had a small hoard of those special little chocolates they sometimes gave to the officers after dinner waiting for her back in her room. That seemed infinitely more pleasurable than standing here offering her friendship to a dickhead that didn’t want it.

Angel decided to continue in her sickly sweet voice. “Nice to know you were raised to stand when a lady left the room.” With that, she turned on her heel and left the mess hall. “What. A. Prick,” she muttered under her breath, dismissing the arrogant ass from her mind. She could hear the level of chatter in the mess hall return to normal as she rounded the corner down the hall.

_What. A. Prick. Levi had to turn his head to the wall to hide his small smile, since he knew everyone in the mess hall was still watching him, gauging his response. He slowly sat back down and picked up his cup, and the noise in the mess hall eventually returned to its normal level. Levi contemplated the woman who had just left the hall. He knew who she was since they were on the same squad. However, Levi hadn’t really exerted much effort to get to know his squad mates, beyond their necessary talents for battle. He knew she was a good soldier, decent with her ODM gear, better than average with her swords, and skilled at hand-to-hand combat. Most of the people here treated him with fear or disdain, or just ignored him. But she had obviously approached him in some form of friendship. Then had clearly gotten angry at his rudeness, but she didn’t fear him when he rose to challenge her. He couldn’t believe she had almost gotten some kind of emotional response out of him. Where were his usual barriers? Remembering her sassy response brought another smile to his face that he hid behind his cup. No one had talked back to him like that since Isabel. The thought of Isabel wiped the smile from his face and brought the familiar weight of guilt to his chest. With effort, he shoved the guilt and other emotions to their dark little box deep inside, and resumed his normally impassive demeanor. As his thoughts turned back to Hudson, he knew he didn’t need her friendship, but perhaps he needed something else from her._

Two days later, Angel was called to see Captain Erwin. She rounded the corner and proceeded down the hall toward his office, her boots tapping out an efficient rhythm on the stone floor. She came to a halt before his office door and knocked twice. She heard Erwin’s deep voice call out, “Enter.” Angel opened the door with a smile on her face. She always enjoyed her conversations with Erwin. He had an easygoing charm when he wasn’t being so intense, and they had many lively discussions about books and a wide range of topics.

As she walked through the heavy door, Angel caught sight of Erwin sitting behind his desk, as usual. She gave him a brief salute. After he waved off her salute, she walked over and placed the latest book she had borrowed down on the surface of his desk. “Sorry I kept it so long,” she said sheepishly. “I enjoyed it so much that I had to read it twice.” Erwin had a beautiful collection of books aligned against one wall in his office. Upon noticing her avid interest in them her first time visiting, he offered to let her borrow them at will. Books were rare this far from the Interior, so she had been hungrily devouring as many of them as she could in her free time.

Erwin’s handsome face smiled at her, then glanced down at the title. “No worries,” he intoned, “It’s one of my favorites too. But that isn’t why I called you in here.” With that, he made a motion toward the couch sitting along the wall of his office to the right. That’s when Angel realized they weren’t alone, and the smile dropped from her face.

“Angel, I am sure you are acquainted with one of our newer members, Levi Ackerman.”

Of course they were acquainted. They were on the same squad! What game was Erwin playing at? Angel had learned quickly that Erwin always had an agenda, and he rarely did anything casually. She slid her hard gaze back to Erwin, and raised a brow, silently asking him what the fuck he was up to. Unfortunately, the sun was coming in through the back windows of his office and she couldn’t see his face clearly. Not that it was easy to read Erwin’s intentions from his expressions.

Levi and Angel hadn’t encountered each other again since their clash in the mess hall two days before. Yesterday Angel enjoyed a rare day off and spent it reading out by her favorite tree behind the stables, and today was spent in the infirmary working on basic battlefield triage. In addition to her fighting skills, she had been chosen as the medic for her squad and had to spend a day every two weeks working with the base doctors learning how to treat the most common injuries they encountered out in the field. It wasn’t her favorite way to spend the day, but she had an aptitude for it and it was one more way she could help her squad stay alive.

Erwin’s smile widened at her glare. That did not bode well for her and the hairs on the back of her neck rose in warning.

“Angel, I need to be able to count on your absolute discretion with what we are about to discuss.”

“Of course, sir.” At his serious tone, Angel became all business. She knew that whatever Erwin had in mind was important to the squad, and she could overlook her dislike of Ackerman to accomplish whatever he needed of her. Erwin motioned her to one of the two leather chairs facing his desk. Angel took the one farthest from Levi, and perched on the edge of the dark brown leather.

“The powers that be are considering making Levi a captain.”

Angel wasn’t really that surprised. Ackerman had an air about him that men wanted to follow, once they got beyond their prejudice over his past. She had seen more than one fellow soldier look to him for guidance in the heat of battle, when they were terrified out of their wits.

Erwin continued, watching her closely, “But when I brought it up to Levi, he refused.”

Angel looked to Levi, who remained silent, as she tried to puzzle that out. She hadn’t really pegged him as power hungry, so it wasn’t that. But she did think he would be one of those types that craved respect due to his shady background, and would jump at the chance to start the climb up the ladder. So why refuse? He just gazed back at her with that direct stare, showing nothing in his grey eyes. But she sensed something under the surface, an unease. However, that could be due to the attention currently focused on him.

Angel turned her questioning gaze back to Erwin, still not understanding what the hell this had to do with her.

“Levi feels unequal to the task of captain because he cannot read or write.”

Angel’s eyes widened slightly at that, but otherwise she gave no outward sign of her shock. She kept her eyes on Erwin, but she could feel Levi’s intense stare, waiting for a reaction from her. Angel could almost sense him holding his breath, expecting her to show her disgust or derision, or berate him for his stupidity and ignorance. Instead, she suddenly found herself contemplating the life that Levi must have had that led him to where he was right now. She started to catalogue what little she knew about Levi. All she knew was he was some high level street criminal from the Underground that Erwin had recruited into the Corps for some reason that was widely speculated about. He was incredibly loyal to his two friends that had come with him, and they had been just as loyal to him. But now Angel started to ponder what had made him that way? What had his childhood been like in the Underground? They all heard stories about life there. Suddenly she began to think there was more to Levi Ackerman than just being an ass. Angel was now curious about him, but still wondered what this had to do with her.

Erwin had waited patiently until she processed this information. Then said, “I want you to teach him.”

Silence seemed to suck the air out of the room like a vacuum, accentuating the tick of the small clock on Erwin’s desk. Angel felt her jaw unhinge momentarily as her mouth gaped open. She quickly snapped it shut before launching herself out of the chair and exploding.

“What?!? Erwin, have you fucking lost your mind?! I’m not a teacher!” Angel dropped all formality and protocol in her surprise at his declaration.

A little taken aback at her vehemence, Erwin opened his mouth to explain, when a quiet voice spoke up from the couch.

“I requested it.”

Angel swiveled her head in Levi’s direction at this piece of information and met his gaze again. She was tempted to walk over to the couch and loom over him. Instead, she tried to bring her temper under control. “Why? You don’t even like me.”

“Tch. That’s irrelevant. You don’t take my bullshit.”

Angel narrowed her eyes at him, aware that he all but admitted he didn’t like her. “Exactly. So I don’t think it’s a good idea.” She turned back to Erwin. By now the sun had started to move beyond his windows and she could see his face clearly. “This is a mistake. Get Hanje to do it.”

Erwin decided to speak up at this point. “Angel, you are one of the most educated members of the Corps, as I well know. And – ".

“And you are the least irritating,” Levi quietly said in his deep monotone.

As Angel took a step toward the annoying man sitting relaxed on the couch, Erwin shot him a glare. “Levi, enough.”

Ackerman’s impassive face never changed, but the look he sent her was full of challenge. Not that she gave a damn. Was she supposed to accept the challenge to prove him right? Wrong? Whatever.

Angel took a deep breath and faced Erwin. “Captain, I appreciate you thinking of me, but – ".

“Angel, please.” Erwin’s normally booming voice was quiet. He rubbed a hand across his forehead, then threaded his fingers through his thick hair. “I was going to wait until the formal announcement, but I need to have this settled now. I have been promoted to Commander of the Survey Corps. So my squad will be dissolving and assigned to other squads. I want to form a Special Operations Squad of talented soldiers that I can count on for special assignments. I want Levi to head up this squad and he is going to handpick its members. You were his first choice. You have the respect of your fellow soldiers and I need you to show your support. There are many other unseen factors at play here that I can’t talk about. Do you trust me?”

At that, Angel felt the gaze of both men weigh heavy on her shoulders. Her jacket suddenly felt too small and she longed to be outside in the open air. The tick of the clock on Erwin’s desk was giving her a headache. She looked over at Ackerman. Angel was kind of surprised to hear that she was his first choice. She knew he didn’t like her much. But then he didn’t like anyone. His steady gaze never left her face as she continued to ponder the unique situation. Could she follow him? Her instinct told her she could. His decisions in battle were flawless, and she remembered the loyalty of his friends from the Underground. Angel next looked at Erwin. She knew that Erwin was privy to things of which she had no knowledge. She also knew that he didn’t always do things completely on the legal or moral side. Angel didn’t have a problem with that. He didn’t push his agendas for personal gain. His passion for the continuity of humanity was what drove him. And she would follow him wherever he led. Looking into those clear blue eyes, Angel relaxed her stance and nodded.

“I’m in,” she declared to the silence in the room.

“Excellent!” Erwin exclaimed, with a rare explosion of emotion. “I’ll leave you two to iron out the details.”

Details? What? Oh yes, the lessons. Shit.

_Levi didn’t realize he was holding his breath waiting for Hudson’s response. She was clearly reluctant to work with him. Not that he could blame her. But he applauded her reaction (or lack of a reaction) to hearing about his lack of education. He had never really concerned himself with it before. In his previous world, he had the necessary tools to accomplish what he needed. But that world was gone, and had been replaced by a new, bigger world. He was not really one to care about the world order and conforming to its needs. However, his gut told him that this was where he needed to be. They needed him. He needed this. And he needed this woman’s help to get there. He watched as she shifted her gaze to Erwin and softened. He recognized loyalty like that. He once had it. The pang he felt seeing her response to Erwin reminded him of Isabel and Farlan, and how they once looked at him. Until his arrogance caused their deaths. He found himself envious of the obvious relationship between Erwin and his soldier. And he vowed he would earn this woman’s loyalty._

_“I’m in,” she quietly said._

_Excellent! It was the first step. Outwardly, he remained impassive, but he felt his world shift as if this was somehow a pivotal moment in his existence. What the fuck? He was starting to get way too introspective._

_He suddenly realized that Erwin was explaining to Hudson that Levi’s new office was going to be two doors down from Hanje’s. Hudson was making arrangements with Erwin to pick up some books from his office the next day. Then she turned to face him. He liked the way she was direct in her dealings with him. That would make the coming weeks much easier._

_“Tomorrow, after dinner?” she asked._

_“Yes.” And he held her gaze, noting that her eyes were a deep brown. For the first time he actually felt something since the death of Isabel and Farlan. He had a plan and a purpose again. This was a beginning._


	2. Made of Stone

The next day, training was canceled as a special assembly was called for the entire Survey Corps. When they were all assembled in orderly rows in front of the dais with the warmth of the midsummer sun on their shoulders, Premier Zackary formally announced that Erwin Smith had been promoted to Commander of the Survey Corps. With that a cheer rose up among the soldiers. They all respected Erwin and knew that having him as their Commander was another step in humanity’s cause.

Those soldiers that had been on Erwin’s squad gathered together during the brief reception afterward to mourn the loss of their comradery and leader. Erwin joined them briefly and received their congratulations on his promotion. He then took the opportunity to tell them of their new assignments. Most accepted their new assignments with good grace, but a charged silence descended upon the group when Erwin announced where Angel would be placed.

“Seriously, Commander?” Rena exclaimed. “You expect that criminal to lead a squad, and for Angel to follow him? What the hell? I thought you were going to be humanity’s savior as our commander, and your first move is to make _him_ a captain?”

Erwin’s easy going demeanor instantly evaporated. “I expect you to respect my decisions and follow my orders.” His heavy brows came together over his eyes as he met the gaze of each member of his squad. “Anyone who wants to question my decisions can transfer to the Garrison immediately.” When no one spoke up, he continued, “Angel doesn’t have a problem with her new assignment.”

With that, everyone’s gaze swiveled to her. Angel was uncomfortably aware of her outburst to Erwin just the day before as she had questioned his judgement then. She knew Erwin was counting on her support now. She ran a hand through her hair before tucking a stray piece behind her ear. 

“Uh, no, no problem, sir.” She cleared her throat and continued in a stronger voice, “I think Ackerman will make a good captain. We have all seen his skill in battle. His instincts are spot on, and I believe in him.”

And with that statement, the Levi Squad was born.

Levi had already discussed with Erwin who he wanted on his Special Ops Squad, and Angel had to admit that he had a good eye for choosing the most talented soldiers. Most of them were obvious choices for their skills and bravery. But a couple of his choices surprised Angel. They weren’t necessarily at the top of any skill classes, but she could see that they possessed talents necessary for a small, close-knit squad used for special assignments by their commander. She was also surprised that only one person on Levi’s list declined to work with him. Angel supposed that Erwin was right in estimating how far her endorsement of Ackerman’s promotion would go to sway the others.

By the end of the day, Levi had a solid squad of seven talented warriors scheduled to meet the next day with their new leader for training. As for Angel, she was striding down the hallway, books in hand, heading for his new office in preparation for their first tutoring session. With more than a little bit of trepidation.

Pausing before his door, she took a deep breath and knocked on the hard wooden surface.

“Name and business,” came the dispassionate voice on the other side. Angel rolled her eyes heavenward. He couldn’t just say “Enter” like a normal person.

“Hudson, _sir_. I have some paperwork,” Angel said, with only a slight sarcastic inflection. She didn’t think he wanted her to announce her true business out loud in the hallway, even though she was tempted, just to irk him.

“Enter.”

Angel opened the door and walked in. The office contained basic furniture consisting of a desk and a few chairs, one behind the desk and two in front of it. There was also a couple of chairs with a low table in front of the fireplace. In the back corner, there was a doorway which she assumed led to a private bedroom and washroom. There was no decoration or ornamentation anywhere, but that wasn’t surprising since he just moved in. She looked around trying to find Ackerman. He wasn’t behind the desk, but was standing in the far corner gazing out of the window at the setting sun.

Angel didn’t want to waste any time, so she immediately began to set up her supplies on the desk, without waiting for permission. Belatedly, she realized that she should have saluted him. She stood and hit her right fist over her heart. Levi maintained his position by the window, arms crossed over his chest, but he turned his attention to her when he noticed she had stopped moving around shuffling papers. He quirked an eyebrow at her, but then waited a heartbeat or two longer before releasing her from her salute. Payment for her sarcasm, she figured. Bastard. With effort, she reined in her temper and continued to lay out the books they were going to use.

“I need to know why you agreed to this,” he bluntly stated to the quiet of the room.

“Why does it matter?” she threw out at him, not looking at him as she continued setting out her materials.

“Because it does.” Levi didn’t shout the words, but the force behind them reached her across the room, causing her to pause what she was doing. 

Angel straightened and turned to him, suddenly drawn into his compelling gaze. She looked him over carefully as she thought about her answer. Angel did not think he was looking for her to stroke his ego, so she took her time answering.

“Because I believe in the Commander,” she finally stated. And then she decided to take the leap that Erwin had asked of her. With a deep breath, she added, “And because I believe in you. Now prove that my faith is not misplaced.”

For a moment, they stood looking at each other, taking each other’s measure. Again. Then Levi uncrossed his arms and walked toward the desk.

“You are going to be a giant pain in my ass, aren’t you?” he replied, once again returning to his cool, dispassionate demeanor.

“Yes, _sir_.” Angel replied with a small smile as he rolled his eyes.

And with that they began the education of Levi Ackerman.

Angel found Levi to be an extremely adept student. She had no knowledge of how to teach reading and writing. Mathematics she could handle, as that was her favorite subject and easy to break down and teach. Fortunately, Levi already had a rudimentary knowledge of the basics. And Levi was such an able student that he picked up on things quickly, in spite of her inexperience. Apparently, in addition to being an amazing warrior with incredible speed and strength, he also had amazing analytical skills and intelligence. Therefore, he was able to pick up on things with exponential speed. After a couple of lessons covering the basics, Angel would leave him with some things to work on in her absence. At their next meeting he would have covered all those things and then have a long list of questions delving farther in to the various topics. Within a week, he was already able to navigate some of the basic paperwork required by his rank, with her help. By the second week, he was reading most of the lower level books Angel had absconded from Erwin’s library. She was still helping him with his paperwork. But within a month, he had mastered most of the basic subjects she could find, and was working on some of the more advanced subjects.

She began to question if he ever slept. He trained just as hard as they did all day, plowed through reams of paperwork, attended officer meetings, and still found the time to devour a couple of books a night. They spent hours discussing history, science, mathematics. His favorite subjects were mythology and mathematics. He had a voracious appetite for knowledge and it didn’t take long for him to exhaust her basic knowledge. Erwin helped by ordering more books from his connections in the Interior, and occasionally the three of them would sit before the fire in Erwin’s office discussing a wide range of topics. It was during these conversations that Erwin revealed his father’s theories about the history of their people before the walls were constructed.

Working this closely with Levi, Angel was able to see a totally different side to him. He was still snarky and blunt. However, he dropped some of his icy exterior as they sat over tea discussing philosophy or working through the next level of mathematics. He still maintained a distance and never revealed anything about his personal life or history. But she could respect that and she appreciated his focus on learning. He challenged her own knowledge as he pushed her for more and questioned things she took for granted. Angel was surprised to find that she looked forward to the nightly lessons with her surly captain.

She knew that there was talk about her spending so much of her evenings with Levi, and she and Erwin tried to deflect the gossip stating that she had been assigned to bring him up to speed on the geographical maps of the region. Hanje was especially relentless, wanting as much information as possible about the enigmatic captain. She still rhapsodized about his first titan takedown. It was easy to think that Hanje was enamored with Levi, but Angel knew better. The scientist in Hanje wanted to know what made him tick, and what was the source of his extraordinary abilities.

While her nights were spent pouring over books with her captain, her days were spent in training and getting to know her new squad better. Although she had basic knowledge of each member (two of them had been in her cadet class), Levi had a different approach to their training. He wanted them to get to know every strength and weakness of their fellow squad members. The first month, they spent their time running through countless maneuvering drills and hand-to-hand combat drills so that Levi could evaluate their individual abilities in detail. Next, they worked on memorizing several formations Levi had worked out for their small group to use in various scenarios. Then they headed out into the field to put some of their training to use and to evaluate how they worked together in real situations.

One evening while they were camping out in the field, he ordered them to strip down to their military issued underwear. Perplexed they all stripped and then awkwardly stood, waiting for Levi’s next move. He walked around the perimeter, watching each soldier carefully. Angel was more uncomfortable under Levi’s watchful gaze than she was standing nearly naked in front of her fellow soldiers because she knew that he missed nothing. Behind those steel grey eyes, he was cataloging all her flaws and weaknesses, and that unnerved her.

“Take a good look at each other,” he commanded. As he spoke, he moved out of Angel’s line of sight so she could only hear the deep timbre of his voice behind her. “After this, you will no longer see each other as men and women.” They looked around at each other. Seven people stood in the firelight as their shadows jumped and swayed on the trees in the distance. Angel looked at each of her six squad mates, four men and two women. All of them were in phenomenal shape, as life in the Corps was rigorous and demanding. She had an idea where Captain was going with this, but it wasn’t really a problem for her. She always made sure to keep her romantic entanglements far away from her squad or anyone she directly worked with. Mostly because things tended to get messy once the other person realized she wasn’t interested in anything long term. She knew there were some who formed solid relationships within the military. Some even got married. However, she just couldn’t see doing that to another person. She had seen the destruction when a wife or a husband didn’t make it back from a mission. Suddenly, Levi grabbed Angel from behind, with a hand fisted in her hair.

“Take Hudson here.” She could feel his warm breath on her ear as he held her in front of him. “Do you think she’s beautiful?” At this, he took his free hand and lightly ran it across the bare skin at the top of her chest above her sports bra, as his icy gaze slowly touched each man in the squad. Angel could feel goosebumps erupt in the wake of his feather light touch. He was holding her so close, she could feel the heat from his body against her back. She forced herself to remain motionless in his grasp, when instinct made her want to fight back.

“Well take a good look, then get over it. When you evaluate a situation in battle, make sure your split second decisions are based on talents and weaknesses, not due to misplaced notions of romance or gallantry. That will get someone killed.”

With that, he shoved Angel away from him and walked off into the forest, out of the reach of the firelight. Angel stumbled a moment, then caught her footing and turned to glare at his retreating form. She didn’t realize she had taken a step in Levi’s direction when Hersh grabbed her arm. She swung her angry gaze to him and he quietly shook his head at her. She shook her arm out of his grip and looked back to where Levi had been swallowed up by the darkness. Angel could still feel the brand of his touch across her chest as she tried to steady her breathing. Finally, she turned back to her squad. They all stood there for a moment in shock, barely breathing. Then suddenly Gunter let out a loud crack of laughter and doubled over, holding his sides. And the spell was broken. Everyone started laughing as they reached for their scattered clothes on the ground.

“Holy shit, Angel, the look on your face was priceless!” Eld could barely get the words out as he gasped for breath while shrugging on his shirt.

“For a brief second, I actually feared for our captain’s safety.” Petra snorted.

Angel felt the tension in her body begin to dissipate at the gentle ribbing from her squad. She shook off any residual effects from the encounter and focused on getting dressed as she scrabbled around in the pine needles for her shirt.

Even when they returned back to base, Levi had them all stay together for the next month. So not only did they have to spend every day together training, they also had to eat together at each meal and sleep in the same room. At this point, Angel was so tired of looking at their faces, she could scream. And if she had to endure one more night of listening to Oluo snore like a freight train, she would punch someone. Most likely her captain.

However, Angel had to grudgingly admit, his methods worked. Being worked to the brink of collapse constantly and in such close quarters gave them amazing insight to each other. They had seen each other at their very worst. They slept, ate, cried, bled, and vomited together. It was like he was breaking them down to their core elements. And then building them back up together so that the end result was better than the individual pieces.

At the end of three months, Angel was amazed at how much she had changed. She knew she was a good soldier before. But now, after Levi’s unique training regimen and his individual insights to her strengths and weaknesses, she knew she was so much better. And the squad was a solid unit. She knew her fellow squad mates inside and out. She knew that Leia was weaker to the right with her ODM gear. She knew that Eld liked to use both his blades in a forward attack, rather than feint to the side like she did. And she knew that Levi liked stories on mythology and the constellations. However, she was greatly relieved to move back into her old room, even if it meant having to endure endless questioning from her roommate, Hanje.

They were being driven hard as their first mission as the Special Ops Squad was fast approaching. At this point, Angel was only working as an assistant for Levi’s paperwork. He had mastered pretty much all he needed to know, and had the tools to figure out the rest. So once or twice a week, she would head to his office in the evenings as usual, where they would work for a bit, then have a cup of tea while discussing a new book or rehashing an argument over an old book. Angel found she looked forward to these evenings. Erwin’s new duties took him away to the Interior more often now, and she missed their animated debates. Levi had a quick mind with a unique perspective.

The more time she spent with him, the more she was able to see beyond the outer layers of indifference. He actually cared a great deal for the people he was responsible for. He took his duties as their captain seriously. That did not mean he was above intimidating them, especially if it made them better soldiers. He had even put Hersh in the infirmary earlier in the week for being sloppy with his gear. The astonishing thing was that his methods were working. They were an amazing, well-oiled machine. And every member of the squad had come to respect him as their leader. They may grumble his name as they stumbled their way to their beds at night with sore bodies. But in the morning, they strapped on their gear again, ready to tackle whatever new challenge he threw at them.

What Angel didn’t realize was how well he read each of them and their weaknesses. And they each still had their lessons to learn. Even Levi himself.

Angel’s came one evening late in the fall. She had been working with Levi now for about five months. She had gotten comfortable with him, and felt they had reached a level of understanding, if not exactly friends. And she had made the mistake of thinking of him as an ordinary man.

“Enter,” he said in reply to her knock.

Angel had headed to his office in the evening, as usual. This time she had a new book of poetry that Erwin had ordered, and she was excited to share it with Levi. Books were sometimes hard to come by out where they were at the Survey Corps headquarters. So anything new was a big deal, even if poetry wasn’t her favorite thing to read.

Angel let herself into his office, but was brought up short by the sight of Levi moving about the room, half dressed with his hair wet and hanging in his face, obscuring his features. She had seen him shirtless many times as they had sparred or worked in the heat of the day, the same as the other men in the squad. But something about this setting made it much more intimate. They were in his private quarters, at night, with only a couple of candles to chase away the shadows. The way he briskly used the towel to damp dry his hair, and then ran his fingers through the dark locks to bring them to order was incredibly personal and Angel felt like she had been caught watching him bathe. At that thought, her mind immediately extrapolated to the visual images of what he had clearly been doing just a few minutes before. The image of him standing under a steaming shower head, dark head tilted back as the warm spray fell over his naked body was imprinted on her retinas like the after image from a bolt of lightning. Heat blossomed on the surface of her skin and pooled in private places. Where were these thoughts coming from? Hadn’t she been specifically de-programmed from thinking such thoughts about her squad? Maybe it was time to strike up a physical relationship with that medic who was so friendly the last time she was in the infirmary. She suddenly realized in her distraction that Levi was explaining he had been late getting to the showers while he finished up some reports earlier.

“No worries,” she said a little too breathlessly, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. Angel couldn’t figure out where to look. If she looked in his direction, she couldn’t help but see his hard sculpted body, muscles flexing as he moved about the room. Angel knew that some of the female soldiers found him attractive. His incredible physical strength, skill on the battlefield, and general aura of danger tended to turn the heads of some of the women in the Corps. Suddenly he stopped in the middle of the room and looked at Angel with deadly intensity. She found herself falling prey to that striking grey gaze, with his hair falling damply over his face, obscuring everything but his strong jaw. She was drawn to the beautiful symmetry of his face and she felt like she had never really looked at him before. Angel felt her face heat as she realized how she was looking at her superior officer. As he started walking toward her, she shifted her gaze to over his shoulder so she wouldn’t have to look directly at him. Angel was completely flustered by his physical presence. Who was this man standing before her? Where was the asshole she was used to dealing with? Once he was face to face with her, he stopped. She could feel the heat from his body. She could smell the clean scent of his soap. And still he didn’t say anything, just looked at her with that impenetrable gaze. Suddenly her befuddled instincts finally kicked in that something was off. Angel didn’t have time to puzzle it out before Levi leaned in closely to say in his husky monotone, “Is something wrong, Hudson? Does me being shirtless make you uncomfortable?”

That’s when it hit her, this was a test. Angel knew he had tested the other members of the squad, exposing and eradicating their weaknesses in various ways. Did he think this was her weakness? The thought mortified her. Or did he test all the female members of the squad with his body? That was even more disturbing. Had he already done this with Petra and Leia? With his powers of observation, he had to be aware of his effect on women. Did he think so little of her that she would fall prey to finely cut features and a ridged abdomen? Bastard. She conveniently ignored the fact that she almost fell for it.

In her anger, Angel decided to turn the tables on him. Rather than retreat, she stepped into him so that their bodies were nearly flush. Running her hand down the heated skin of his naked chest and over his sculpted abdomen toward the waistband of his trousers, she whispered, “On the contrary, _Captain_. What exactly did you have in mind for the evening?”

Her hand was hovering over the buckle to his belt when he grabbed her wrist in an iron grip. She could feel him crushing her bones in his hand as their gazes clashed. He had dropped the seductive persona, and Angel knew that she now had the true Levi in front of her. And he was not completely immune to her either. She had heard the hitch in his breath when she touched him. She had surprised him by turning the tables on him and his awareness was evident in the fire she saw hidden in the molten grey depths of his eyes. And he didn’t know how to handle it. Angel decided to help him out. “Don’t fucking start this shit unless you intend to finish it,” she challenged.

After a heartbeat, he released her wrist and they both backed up to put some space between them. Angel felt her heart beating erratically and she could see the rise and fall of Levi’s chest as they glared at each other.

Finally, Levi broke the spell as he reached out and grabbed a shirt off his desk and threw it on, asking her what book she had brought as he turned away. The seductive spell was broken.

Taking a deep breath, Angel responded by heading over to the desk and pouring the tea that had been sitting there steeping. She hoped Levi couldn’t see her hand shake.

“I knew you were going to be a giant pain in my ass,” he said. Angel rolled her eyes, and pulled out the book, glad to put this whole awkward situation behind them.

Unfortunately for them, their lesson was not done.


	3. Burning Bridges

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super nervous about this chapter! I don't want anyone to get upset or offended at how I handled a touchy situation (and how I continue to handle the fallout in future chapters).

A couple of weeks later, the Corps had word of another scouting mission that had gone terribly wrong. There had been heavy casualties, and they all knew fellow soldiers who had perished. The air around the barracks was somber as everyone quietly finished up dinner that night. No one had much of an appetite. The members of the Survey Corps never forgot the fragility of life, but it was sometimes easy to push into little locked boxes in the back of their minds when engulfed in the daily rigors of training and all the other trappings of military life. All of the veterans had lost numerous friends and comrades, and the weight of those losses accumulated in their bones until it sometimes became too difficult to get out of bed, the weight too great to bear, each loss becoming another grain of sand under the skin. Failed missions not only brought new losses, but a reminder of their own mortality. Veterans and rookies alike found different ways to cope with these harsh realities: some gathered quietly in small groups to talk and reminisce, some acquired the rare bottle of liquor and were going somewhere to drown their memories, some were searching for a willing partner to reaffirm that they were still alive in the most elemental and physical way possible, and some were distancing themselves from everyone in an attempt to deny that they were affected by the continued losses. The weather outside seemed to match the swirling emotions flowing through the halls of headquarters late that evening. Thunder could be heard rumbling in the distance and the sky was darker than normal as the setting sun was hidden behind a large bank of black clouds.

It was with a heavy heart that Angel made her way to Levi’s office, distant flashes of lightning coming in through the windows of the hallway lighting her way. She was going to help him with the final evaluation reports for their squad in preparation for their first mission. At each new loss, Angel tried to run through the running list in her mind of friends she had lost over the years. Through this small action, she hoped to keep not only their memories alive, but also the purpose for which they died foremost in her heart. As she continued down the hall, she remembered Erwin once telling her that keeping her friends’ memories alive gave their sacrifice meaning. But she felt her steps falter momentarily as the list was getting so long and the faces were getting blurred.

In Levi’s office, Angel silently poured the tea to steep and watched as he quietly worked over finalizing evaluations of their field skills. There was something different about him tonight, an air about him that she couldn’t quite figure out, but she assumed it had to do with the recent mission failure. He was more reticent than usual and had barely spoken since she entered the room. She gave him his space as she filed away some older paperwork, and was about to excuse herself for the night and let him be alone with his thoughts. However, she got distracted by the line of his jaw and the way his hair fell over his eyes as he bit his full lower lip while concentrating on the paperwork before him. Unfortunately, their encounter a couple of weeks earlier had awakened an awareness of him that was difficult to suppress. Angel found herself gazing distractedly at the buttons of his shirt, remembering what lay beneath.

At that moment, he caught her gaze as he looked up, feeling a shift in her thoughts. The air suddenly became charged as they looked at each other and she felt like he could read her thoughts with his too-perceptive eyes. Angel felt a blush steal over her cheeks and hoped it was concealed by the dim light in the corner of the room where she stood. She was the first to drop her gaze as she struggled to find something to say to break the spell.

Shifting her gaze out the window behind him at the approaching storm, she thought back to all they had done over the last few months. Their squad was more than ready for their first mission. Her evenings spent with Levi revealed him to be an intelligent leader who was concerned with the well-being of his squad. Privately, she found him to be an enigma. He was involved heavily in their daily lives, and he knew their strengths and weaknesses intimately. But he still kept himself aloof. They had all learned to trust his judgement and skills, but they didn’t know the man.

That night, surrounded by the heavy blanket of grief laying over headquarters, Angel suddenly thought about his fallen friends from when he first joined the Survey Corps. She inexplicably felt compelled to finish the sentiment he never let her finish that long ago evening in the mess hall when they first clashed.

Their uncomfortable moment from earlier apparently forgotten, he had returned to his work when she walked over to his desk and said, “Captain, I want to tell you how sorry I am for the loss of your friends.” With that, Angel reached over and placed her hand over his on the desk.

At the physical contact of her hand on his, his head jerked up, and she was immediately sorry for bringing it up. As he looked at her with that cool grey gaze, she saw something shift deep in his eyes. The hairs on the back of her neck lifted in warning.

His free hand lifted to gently cup her cheek and he ran his rough fingertips along the line of her jaw. At the touch of his warm callused hand, Angel felt her breath hitch as all her earlier awareness of him came surging forward and pooled low in her belly. The barely leashed control that she sensed beneath the surface of Levi Ackerman snapped as he suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward to capture her lips in a possessive kiss. Angel felt her body immediately respond. She knew then that her denial of her attraction to him was fruitless as it flared to a full blown inferno at the first touch of his cool lips. However, she quickly realized that Levi was losing control of himself as he overpowered her and took rough possession of her mouth. Angel felt a fission of fear race through her as he suddenly picked her up and slammed her back down on the surface of his hard wooden desk, scattering papers everywhere as he stepped between her legs. She sensed his total loss of control as he gripped both halves of her shirt and ripped. Angel couldn’t catch her breath as she suppressed a feeling of panic, and she tried to slow his momentum by saying his name.

“Levi.”

But he was a man possessed. Intellectually she had some idea of where he was coming from and she tried to reach the man inside the frenzy. Angel knew instinctively that he wouldn’t hurt her intentionally. But at this point he was completely unreachable as he continued his assault. The light skirt she wore in the evenings was no barrier to his violence. She said his name again, trying to reach him, to slow him down and let her catch up to the feelings he was failing to process. Under different circumstances, she would be right there with him, passionately craving the joining of their bodies. But this wasn’t right. He had spiraled out of control, losing a grip on his tightly controlled emotions. And she was no match for his strength. Angel’s survival instincts kicked in as she realized the futility of fighting him. She surrendered when she heard her underwear give way under his rough hands and he surged forward into her. She felt the incredible power of his body as he pumped inside her. It didn’t take long and all she could do was hold onto his trembling body as he shuddered and released, feeling the hard surface of his desk pressing into her back.

When it was over, the echo of the violence seemed to hang in the room. Angel lay unmoving beneath him and sensed when he came back to himself and the horror of what he had done. He pulled away from her, chest heaving, eyes not meeting hers. He backed away from the desk and turned toward the window, gripping his head in his hands. In shock, Angel slowly sat up on the desk, trying to pull the two halves of her shredded shirt together. She was struggling to process what had happened in just a few short minutes. Were they really just working on mundane reports moments ago? What happened? She looked to Levi. But he was struggling to regain control of his emotions and had closed himself off. She heard the rain begin to splat against the window beyond him as the storm finally arrived.

His back was to her and she saw the movements as he righted his clothing. She could hear the clink of his belt. Funny how she didn’t remember hearing his belt come off.

“I think you should go,” he whispered.

Although traumatized by recent events, Angel knew that Levi would never hurt her on purpose. His clear distress at the moment was testimony to this. He was struggling to process the hurricane of emotions he was feeling and he was lost. 

“Captain,” she said softly, trying to reach him.

But the use of his title just seemed to distress him further. “Please,” he said, barely audible. It was the tremor in his voice that convinced her to leave. Angel walked to the door and turned. Her last glimpse of him before she left was a man doubled over in pain.

What had they done?

Angel hurried down the hall with her hands crossed over her chest to hide the state of her clothing. Luckily, she didn’t encounter anyone at the late hour. She prayed that Hanje was not in their room when she flung open the door. Hanje had gotten her own office and private rooms when she was promoted to Squad Leader and head scientist, but she still preferred to sleep in the old room she shared with Angel. Fortunately for Angel, Hanje didn’t sleep much and was rarely home. She gave a silent thanks that Hanje wasn’t home tonight and quickly slammed the door and leaned against it, breathing heavily. She dropped her head into her shaking hands, wondering what happened now.

After a few minutes, Angel pulled herself together, gathered some clean clothes and headed to the showers, which were mostly deserted this time of night. She quickly turned on the water as hot as it would go and stripped. As she stepped into the stream of hot water, she couldn’t decide if she was happy or sad to wash the smell of Levi Ackerman off her skin.

_Levi heard the click of the door as Angel quietly let herself out of his office. Lifting his head from his hands, he looked at the mess in his office. Papers and debris from his desk were scattered all over the floor. As he looked at the empty surface of his desk, he closed his eyes in pain. What the fuck had he just done? How had it happened? What in hell was he going to do now? Had he hurt Angel? Dear Gods, he wanted to castrate himself if he had caused her any pain._

_He knew he had been playing a dangerous game with her, letting her get under his defenses. He knew better because that way always led to pain. But he couldn’t help himself. He still struggled with guilt and desolation after the loss of Isabel and Farlan. And his isolation was drawn to the warmth of Angel. She was unique in that she didn’t let the loss of her comrades make her hardened and bitter, but neither did she bounce around with false girlish optimism. She took the harshness of their chosen life with quiet dignity, seeming to honor those who had fallen without the desperation so common in the ones who survive tragedy. He secretly admired this trait in her as she was clearly able to face her feelings directly, similar to how she dealt with him, rather than ignoring them, or shoving them deep inside, or covering them with vice. Then the disaster a couple of weeks ago, when he decided to test her, and she had neatly turned the tables on him. Ever since, he had lain awake at night, remembering the feel of her cool hand as it slid down his naked chest toward his belt and her seductive whisper in his ear. The fire ignited then had been difficult to suppress, and had been on a slow burn ever since. Angel had managed to unnerve him and keep him off balance since the very beginning of their association, making cracks in his carefully crafted exterior. He should have put more distance between them._

_He knew he had been particularly vulnerable tonight. The recent failure and loss of the Survey Corps’ mission had hit everyone hard. For him, it brought back the pain and loss of his old friends, as he mourned the loss of new comrades as well. Why couldn’t he do more? What was the point of his strength and speed if people continued to die around him? And he was sitting here doing paperwork and reports. He was ready to explode with frustration. And then Angel had been there. The spark of desire he saw in her eyes had ignited his slow burn. However, he still managed to keep things under control as he carefully watched her internal struggle. Until her gentle compassion had_ _been his final undoing and he had lost control. And had put his filthy hands on her. Add that to his growing list of crimes. How did he think a whore’s bastard son from the Underground was worthy to touch someone like her? He dropped his head back into his hands. Christ, he did need to be castrated._

_After a while, he pulled himself together, and started to straighten up the mess on the floor, thinking through his options. He knew what his heart wanted. However, that shriveled up organ didn’t deserve to get what it wanted. The best option for Angel’s sake, was to forget any of this happened. Certainly after tonight, she would get over any tender feelings or attraction she had for him. She now saw him as the animal he was. He was an expert at crushing his feelings and retreating behind his cold exterior. And that was best for everyone._

The next morning, Angel awoke groggy due to lack of sleep the night before. As she struggled to sit up, she became aware of her body’s soreness in unusual places. She had a brief image of Levi’s body surging in hers before she quickly squashed it and focused on getting out of bed. Hanje was already up and dressed. She was heading out the door when a small groan from Angel stopped her and she turned toward her in concern.

“Levi must have really worked you over yesterday,” Hanje said with sympathy.

Angel’s head snapped up at her statement, until she realized Hanje was talking about their training. Fuck. Hanje was looking at her oddly.

“Nah,” Angel said, trying to look unconcerned, “I just had a bad fall. I’ll catch up to you at breakfast.” She hoped she sounded convincing. Hanje was sometimes way too perceptive when she actually focused.

Hanje looked at her a moment longer, then turned and walked out the door, waving as she shut it behind her.

Angel released her breath, wondering how she was going to get through the day. But she was not a coward. So she quickly got dressed and headed to the mess hall. As she stepped into the room, her eyes immediately went to the table in the corner where the Levi Squad normally ate. Although not required to eat together anymore, most of them still gravitated to the same table out of habit. Thankfully, it was mostly empty except for Eld finishing up his breakfast. Angel wasn’t really hungry, but knew she needed to eat for the trying day ahead, so she grabbed a plate and sat down across from Eld. Looking up at her as he finished his last bite of eggs, he must have seen something in her face for he poured himself another cup of coffee to keep her company while she ate. Angel felt better after spending some time in casual conversation with Eld, with the everyday smells and sounds of the mess hall to remind her that not everything in the world had shifted dramatically. Only once did Eld glance at her sharply when he noticed her hand shaking as she reached for her coffee. Thankfully he didn’t ask questions. Once finished, they left the mess together, picked up their ODM gear, and headed to the training field. En route, they managed to catch up to the rest of their squad mates and the casual banter and insults helped ease some of her tension. They were almost to the practice field, when Angel realized her ODM harness was twisted, the uncomfortable strap digging into her back. Stopping on the grassy hill before the practice field, she quickly took off her jacket and struggled to straighten out her harness with fingers grown suddenly clumsy. Thankfully, Eld grew tired of witnessing her fumbling fingers and stopped to work at the harness at her back to get it untwisted. His brown eyes watched her carefully, with a soft question that went unspoken. Angel dropped her eyes, pretending to fiddle with one of the straps across her hips. This was the problem with knowing each other too well: it was hard to hide from them.

“Thanks,” Angel replied, as she stepped away from him and buckled the chest harness back in place.

“No problem,” he said, holding out her jacket for her to put her arms back through.

“Oi,” They heard an annoyed voice from up ahead. “You two care to join us sometime today?”

Angel stiffened at the sound of his voice, but she looked up to see Levi standing with the rest of the squad at the top of the hill, waiting impatiently for them. Eld sent her a lopsided smile at the characteristic grumpiness of their captain. 

“Yes, Captain,” she replied, trying to gauge his mood. The words came out less confident than she liked and she cleared her throat.

His cool gaze passed over her as he began to relay the drills for the day.

Angel breathed a sigh of relief as he continued to ignore her. He obviously had his emotions back under control and was going to act like nothing ever happened. She looked down at the ground in front of her, noticing where the grass was flattened from the numerous footsteps that had gone before her. Every one of those people that had traveled this path before her had trials to overcome as they walked this same path she was on. Many never came back. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at the man who was her leader, whom she had sworn to follow. He was giving the order to begin their drill, calling out the first formation. Most of the squad had already engaged their gear and shot for the trees. Eld was still lagging behind, looking at her with concern. She nodded to him and shot for the nearest tree, noticing the fresh smell of the air, as if the storm had cleared the miasma of any lingering pollution. 

The morning was a disaster. After messing up the formation twice and then almost crashing into a tree, Angel came to a halt on the heavy branch of the closest tree. At this point, she had not only drawn the attention of Eld, but several other squad members were looking at her curiously due to her out of character behavior. She leaned her forehead against the rough bark of the tree trying to collect her scattered thoughts. The graze of the bark against her skin was welcome as the pain gave her something to focus on.

“Hudson!” At his sharp command, her body jerked, causing her to scrape her head harder than she wished against the tree. Putting a hand to her bleeding forehead, she turned to see Levi standing on a branch about twenty yards away. She braced herself for his tirade at her ineptitude. Instead he just looked at her with his inscrutable grey eyes.

“Angel,” It was the first time he had ever used her given name. “Focus on what is important.” It was softly said, but with enough force to carry across the distance between them. She looked at him standing on the branch, feet braced apart, green cloak shifting slightly in the breeze. Suddenly, she remembered another time when she saw him thus. Except then he was soaking wet from the pouring rain and covered in the blood of the titan that had just killed his friends. He had tried to kill Erwin on that day. But he was here now, one of Erwin’s most trusted soldiers. And there were bigger things than their personal drama. She took a deep breath and nodded. Then she launched off the branch to pick up the formation, the Wings of Freedom emblem on her back drifting out behind her.

_Levi released the breath he had been holding and ran both his hands down his face, then back through his hair. He watched Angel shoot off to join the formation. It was horrifying enough to think about what he had done to Angel. It had kept him up all last night. But what about the long reaching effects of his actions? What about the rest of the soldiers he was responsible for? Goddammit, he hoped he hadn’t put his whole squad in danger with his actions._


	4. Wrecking Ball

The periwinkle silk fell in elegant folds to the tops of her strappy silver sandals. Angel caught herself before she tripped as her low heels snagged on the uneven flagstones of the hallway as she headed towards the main door of the barracks. For the twentieth time, she smoothed her hands down the front of the lovely evening dress. She was unaccustomed to the finery and was still trying to figure out how she found herself in this situation tonight, on her way to some fancy fundraiser in the Interior with Erwin and Levi.

It was a week ago that Erwin called her into his office.

“Angel, I need you to do something for me,” he announced, oozing so much blond charm it made her nervous. That usually indicated whatever task he had for her was especially unpleasant.

She pasted a smile on her face and issued an obedient, “Yes, Commander.”

He wasn’t fooled as he grinned at her. She heaved a sigh and raised her eyebrows in inquiry.

“Next week there is a small social for the councilmembers and their wives in the Interior. I have to attend, as this is where I am usually able to convince the council of the continued necessity of the Survey Corps, after they have had a few glasses of port. I occasionally drag Levi with me as it gives the council and their wives a thrill to stand next to Humanity’s Strongest, no matter how unpleasant he may be.” At this he gave her a knowing look. Angel laughed briefly as she envisioned her stoic captain trotted out for display in order to get the council to loosen their purse strings. She almost felt sorry for anyone who happen to enter his orbit at these functions.

“I thought I would try a different tactic this time and give them someone more pleasant to look at in addition to Levi’s surly face.”

He paused to give his words a chance to sink in.

As Angel opened her mouth to present the many arguments that immediately crowded her brain, Erwin raised a hand to halt her tirade before she even started as he continued, “You’re educated and intelligent, and therefore, can carry on some semblance of a conversation with these blowhards.” Before she could attempt to interrupt at this particular point, he read her mind and continued on, “No, Hanje may be educated, but would be completely unacceptable. Can you imagine her droning on about capturing live titans and her assorted experiments? That is not what these men want to think about in their comfortable lives, nestled deep in the Interior. And it certainly is not what they will loosen their purse strings for.”

Angel had seen a couple of the councilmen from a distance during her rare visits to Mitras. She remembered them being fat, bejeweled, and assured of their own importance as they sat on their velvet chairs and ruled the ever-shrinking world of humanity. For the most part, she didn’t have a favorable opinion of the council, aware as she was of the Survey Corps’ continuous struggle for its very existence at their hands. The thought of spending a social evening surrounded by these men and their wives ranked right up there with working in the laundry room of the barracks. She heaved a sigh, already knowing the outcome of this ‘discussion’.

However, she still had one trump card before she capitulated, “I don’t have anything remotely close to wear, assuming you don’t want me to wear my uniform.” She was pretty sure this was a solid argument. Most of the women in the Corps came from extremely humble beginnings and arrived at Training Camp with little more than the shirt on their backs. Angel was no different, having lost both her parents while still young. Therefore, it would be difficult to find someone who had a suitable dress she could borrow for the evening, assuming it would even fit. She tried not to allow too much smugness to leak into her bland smile as she looked at the Commander.

As usual, Erwin had prepared for every contingency as he reached into his pocket and handed her an expensive looking card, embossed in gold. She glanced down at the thick, cream colored vellum with the name of a well-known modiste scrawled in elaborate script on it. “Ask for Elise and she’ll take care of everything you need.” The Commander was not prone to smugness as he usually got his way in the end and being smug would just be in bad taste. However, she could detect a certain amount of satisfaction in his gaze as he deflected her biggest argument.

She looked down at the card in her hand. Just the paper the card was printed on was worth more than she made in a month. Her eyes widened at the implication that Erwin had some kind of arrangement with a well-known dressmaker in town. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of machinations he was involved in that would necessitate this kind of association. Maybe he regularly bought dresses for subordinates. Or mistresses. 

Angel’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “What do you need me to do?”

Two days later she was walking through the etched glass door of the modiste, listening to the tinkle of the bell announcing their arrival. Angel had asked Leia and Petra to go with her to get a dress as she had no idea what she was doing, and figured she could use their advice. Petra hadn’t been able to get away from squad duties, much to her extreme disappointment, but Leia was by her side as an older dark haired woman emerged from the back room of the shop.

“Can I help you?” she inquired politely.

“Yes, I am looking for Elise. Commander Smith sent me.” Angel nervously shifted her weight while Leia was practically vibrating with excitement at all the beautiful dresses around them. The burgundy velvet cushions of the ornate chaise lounges scattered about the room were draped with elegant fabrics in a dizzying array of colors. The entire back wall was a veritable forest of mirrors, facing in every direction, with doors leading to private dressing rooms. Ornate lanterns hung at various heights all over the room to show off the sumptuous fabrics and reflect off the shimmering jewels which accessorized the gorgeous gowns. Angel was taken aback at the extravagant shop, and more than a little intimidated.

“Oh yes!” the dressmaker exclaimed. “I’m Elise. I must commend Commander Smith on his taste. My, aren’t you lovely.” She slowly circled around Angel as if mentally taking her measurements. Madame Elise was a small, birdlike woman. Age had only tempered her beauty, dulling it a bit around the edges. Her pale, unlined face maintained a genial expression, but her hawk-like eyes took everything in.

Angel bristled at the dressmaker’s mistaken assumptions as to her relationship with the Commander. She was about to set things straight with Madame Elise, when the modiste gently hustled her into one of the adjoining dressing rooms in the back of the shop.

“I had already set aside several selections based on the Commander’s descriptions and preferences and I think a couple will do nicely now that I’ve seen you in person.”

Angel found herself blushing at the thought that the Commander had described her to this woman in detail. Leia was attempting to hold back her laughter while witnessing Angel’s discomfiture. Throwing up her hands in resignation, Angel stripped. “Not a word about this to the rest of the squad!” Angel threatened. Gunter would never let her hear the end of it.

The first dress brought to her was a gorgeous green velvet, in a simple style with an empire waist and small capped sleeves. It fit snug in the bodice, then fell in luxurious folds to the ground. It was indeed a lovely modest gown and Angel felt like a young girl dressing up as a princess in it. Eager to be done with the job and out from under the dressmaker’s erroneous assumptions, she was ready to purchase this one and be on her way. But Madame Elise shook her head critically and declared it wasn’t quite the look they were going for. Angel wasn’t sure what the dressmaker meant by that comment, but she was out of her element, so she let Madame Elise take command.

The second dress was a sumptuous silk in periwinkle blue. From the moment she put on the dress and settled its elegant folds in place, both Madame and Leia exclaimed that it was perfect. The thin, pearl encrusted shoulder straps held up the heavy silk that fell in an alluring but modest drape between her breasts. Other than that, there was no other adornment on the front. It was the back that was dramatic, with a large portion of her back bare as the dress fell in an elegant drape over the swell of her buttocks. There was only another thin, pearl encrusted strap holding the two halves of the dress together between her shoulder blades. It was elegant, yet provocative.

“Yes! This will suit perfectly!” Madame Elise declared. “And it fits you perfectly, with only a couple of minor adjustments needed. The Commander has an excellent eye.”

Leia was absolutely rapturous. “The Commander is going to swallow his tongue when he sees you in this!”

At this declaration, Angel had had enough and her anger erupted. “Leia! This is not a date with the Commander, and I am not wearing this damn dress for him! Do you not remember the purpose of this event? And don’t forget that our Captain will be along as well.” Shit. She had conveniently forgotten that part too. She heard the hardness in her voice and was sorry to take her frustration out on Leia. She was uncomfortable with the whole situation. She much preferred the leather straps of her harness to the fancy pearl encrusted straps of the dress. And the Madame’s constant references to the Commander was causing a large stone to lodge in the pit of her stomach.

Her outbreak managed to sober Leia up, somewhat. But she still chatted on excitedly as they finished up, with Elise making some small adjustments to the dress and then producing a pair of shoes (that fit perfectly, of course). After they made arrangements to have the dress delivered to the barracks in a couple of days, Angel pulled out her small purse to pay. She knew that the ethereal dress would probably wipe out her entire savings. But if it insured further funding for the Corps, it was money well spent. It was a small sacrifice compared to the lives lost outside the walls. However, Madame Elise shook her head and stated that the Commander had taken care of everything. Angel tried to insist, but the dressmaker adamantly refused to take any of her money.

Angel was quiet all the way back to the barracks from the dressmakers, concerned about what she was getting herself into. She was glad Leia was happy to regale Petra and some of the other women about their trip to town and the beautiful dress shop. She remained quiet all through the evening until Hanje finally asked her about it later that night in the privacy of their room. Angel was not normally one to unburden herself to others, but she could really use Hanje’s perspective. After telling Hanje about the fundraiser Erwin asked her to go to, then describing the events at the dressmaker’s, Hanje snorted and giggled for a moment, until Angel glared at her and started to head out the door.

Hanje immediately got serious. “I’m sorry, Angel. You have to admit it’s a little funny.” Angel dropped her hand from the doorknob and turned back, a reluctant smile on her face.

“Maybe a little. If you’re not the one assumed to be the Commander’s mistress or something.”

Hanje grew speculative for a moment, before turning serious again. “I don’t envy Erwin his job. The Survey Corps is expensive to run and he is constantly having to justify its existence to the council, while in the face of seemingly endless casualties and failures. Things are starting to get really tight, as I am sure you have noticed. The food rations have been reduced, and we have had to cut back on our maneuvering drills in order conserve tanks of gas. Since the fall of Wall Maria, the government is stretched thin trying to feed the people within the walls with only half the land.”

At this, Angel felt guilty for wanting to strangle Erwin for dragging her into this situation. She realized he was probably growing desperate for funding and wouldn’t ask this of her unless he couldn’t come up with any other way. There was really no harm in talking to a bunch of self-absorbed men and their wives. She resolved she would do her best to charm the council members into loosening their purse strings, and she told Hanje as much.

Hanje smiled as she placed her glasses on the bedside table before crawling into bed. “You’ll do great. And try to have fun. There’ll be music and great food that I want to hear all about when you get back. But a word of warning: watch out for Councilman Jenkins. The few times I have traveled to the Interior, I found him to be a creepy bastard. I definitely wouldn’t want to find myself alone with him. Just stay close to Erwin or Levi. Not that you can’t handle yourself. But pervy rich men are sometimes more dangerous than fifteen meter titans.”

The day of the fundraiser arrived with the sunrise hidden behind a bank of black clouds as a storm unleashed a torrent of rain for most of the morning. Since the outdoor training activities were canceled, most of the soldiers were assigned various cleaning and reparation duties.

Levi took his squad to the training gym to spar. However, Angel was too distracted by the upcoming event later that night, and wound up getting smacked in the face while sparring with Hersh. As she backed away, holding her cheek, Levi descended upon her with a dark look.

“Fuck, Hudson, are you trying to mess up your face before tonight? Erwin will gut me if you look like you’ve been in a goddamn brawl. Head to the infirmary and work the rest of the morning on your needlework or something.”

“I’m fine, Captain, thanks for asking. Your concern truly sets you apart as a leader and touches my heart.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm, but she executed a perfect salute to him before picking up her gear and heading out the door.

Levi narrowed his gaze as he watched her leave. He knew she was nervous about tonight, but there was nothing he could do to alleviate her concerns. He may not be good with words, but he would keep an eye on her tonight while she was surrounded by those pigs. He was well aware what kind of harm wealthy, empowered men could do.

As the door closed behind Angel, Levi heard a snort of laughter from one of his soldiers behind him, probably Gunter. He turned, levelling a menacing gaze at the lot of them. All had instantly sobered at the cold look in his grey eyes. “I want 100 pushups, then two laps around the whole compound. Now,” he commanded brusquely.

Erwin had graciously offered her the use of his private washroom to get ready for the evening. Angel at first declined, but then realized she didn’t really want to get ready in the women’s bathroom in the barracks and have to field a bunch of questions from everyone about the evening. Events like this were rare and exciting to the regular soldiers of the Corps as their lives between expeditions centered mostly around training and the everyday running of headquarters. Since she didn’t really want to talk about what was going to happen, she had decided it would be better to avoid the general population as much as possible.

So, when she and her small entourage consisting of Hanje, Leia, and Petra arrived at Erwin’s door that afternoon, he grabbed his bag and excused himself, heading down the hall to Mike’s rooms. Angel heaved a sigh as she leaned back against the closed door of Erwin’s office. She pressed a hand to her galloping heart. She really needed to get ahold of herself if she was going to survive the evening. 

As the women moved from Erwin’s office to his private rooms, the younger women looked around in awe upon entering the Commander’s bedroom. It was sparsely furnished with only the necessities, especially compared to the beautiful furnishings in his office. It was obvious where the Commander spent most of his time.

Petra pointed to his carefully made bed, whispering, “They say he never sleeps.” All four women looked at the bed with its forest green duvet. It was almost disappointing to not see the Wings of Freedom adorning the deep green color.

“Should we check to see if it has a layer of dust?” Angel joked.

Hanje added to the fun by whispering, “Maybe he doesn’t use it for sleeping,” as she waggled her eyebrows comically.

At this, Angel rolled her eyes and Leia blushed furiously. Then they all burst out laughing, enjoying the brief afternoon pretending they were ordinary women having a fun girl moment. Angel headed into the washroom where Erwin had thoughtfully laid out towels for her use. At the sight of those towels sitting on the edge of the sink, Angel got that strange feeling in the pit of her stomach again, the same one she had that afternoon at the dressmaker’s. Shaking her head, she scolded herself for overthinking things. Like Hanje told her earlier, the Commander was simply an observant, considerate man who was trying to do his job the best he could. After a quick shower, where she enjoyed the nicer soap the officers were permitted, she submitted herself to the mercy of her entourage to make her presentable.

An hour later, she emerged from Erwin’s office into the hallway where the rest of her squad was assembled, waiting to see the finished product. Gunter whistled appreciatively, until Eld elbowed him in the chest to shut him up. Hersh and Oluo began giving her detailed instructions on how to sneak out some of the fancy food in her small purse. Eld just nodded at her approvingly in his quiet manner.

Her squad at her back, she ran her hands down the front of her dress once again and stepped out the front door to where her two superior officers waited near the carriage that would take them to the Interior. Erwin and Levi turned simultaneously in her direction at the sound of the door opening. Both men seemed frozen to the ground as they gazed at her and Angel grew uncomfortable with all the unwanted attention, as she smoothed her hand down her dress. Again.

Suddenly Gunter spoke up, “Doesn’t she look great Commander? She actually looks like a girl. Ooof!”

And the tension in the air was broken as Eld grabbed a clueless Gunter and slammed him against the side of the building. “You’re an idiot,” Eld admonished him. “No wonder you can’t get laid.”

Erwin slid an amused glance at the two men as he stepped forward and gallantly offered his arm to Angel. “You look lovely, Hudson.” The use of her last name shifted everything back into proper perspective and she relaxed marginally. “Doesn’t she look lovely, Levi?”

Levi gave her a cursory glance before turning away with his usual disinterest.

“See, the lack of biting words or caustic remarks is high praise from him,” Erwin smoothly said while shooting an admonishing glance at Levi. As Erwin handed Angel up into the carriage, Levi turned to his squad.

“I’m sure you all have some fucking work to do before dinner.”

“Yes, sir!” they replied as they headed back indoors to attend their various tasks, pushing and shoving each other like a bunch of grade school kids. Angel suppressed the pang of longing in her heart to join them. She felt like the special student finally picked to eat at the adult table as Erwin handed her up into the carriage.

The last thing Levi saw before he turned to climb in the carriage after Angel and Erwin was Hanje casually leaning against the building. When she caught his eye, she raised one eyebrow at him as she smirked knowingly.

Angel had to admit she was a little worried about the long carriage ride to Mitras, trapped in a small space with Levi and a too-perceptive Erwin. But the ride turned out to be uneventful and even pleasant. Erwin, who due to his size sat alone on the rear facing seat while she and Levi sat together on the other seat, kept up a steady stream of pleasant conversation to ease her nerves, and Levi kept mostly quiet and looked out the window at the darkening evening. Angel couldn’t help but notice how handsome both men looked in their evening finery. Erwin’s large frame boasted a suave elegance in his fitted tuxedo and carefully combed hair. Levi had opted for a tailored dinner jacket, and he exuded a more casual elegance with his shining black hair hanging carelessly in his face. Both men carried their military bearing and strength with ease. While Erwin had a commanding charisma that drew people in, Levi possessed an animal grace and an aura of danger that tended to scare people away.

Upon their arrival at the venue, Erwin got out first to help her down and again offered his arm to escort her into the venue, leaving Levi to trail behind them. Once inside, Levi headed to the bar, and Erwin proceeded to work around the opulent room, introducing her to the various councilmen and the few wives present. A few of the other higher military officers were present that Angel recognized. But as much as she wanted to gravitate to people she knew or were more comfortable with, she remembered why she was there and she struck up a conversation with the councilman to her left.

Before long, she had charmed a small group of the men and was regaling them with some of the more amusing stories from the latest cadet class. The councilmen, used to talking to soldiers such as Erwin, Levi, and some of the other men, were fascinated with the idea that such a lovely, well-spoken woman could fight alongside the men and hold her own against the horrors outside the walls. Most of the men were pleasant enough to talk to as they were genuinely interested in how a woman navigated the dangerous waters of the Survey Corps. Once she got over their overtly sexist attitude, Angel found it fairly easy to manipulate the conversation as she learned how appreciative these simple men were to compliments and ego stroking. It was a novel experience for Angel as the men she was used to dealing with in the Corps treated men and women equally, and the men in charge certainly didn’t need their egos stroked. But she was a fast learner. Councilman Jenkins was particularly attentive and she had to work hard to keep him at arm’s length as the night wore on and he imbibed larger quantities of alcohol. He continued to dog her every move, keeping close to her as much as possible. Continually aware of Hanje’s warnings, Angel made sure she stayed in sight of Levi or Erwin.

After dinner, Erwin took a break from talking to one of the wives and drifted over to join Levi at the bar. Levi was working on his third scotch while keeping a close eye on the group of men surrounding Angel, including Jenkins.

Following Levi’s line of sight, Erwin commented, “Angel seems to be a success. I have already heard from several of the councilmen that they were impressed with the quality of soldiers we were producing and, now that Maria had fallen, they needed to fund more expeditions to see about taking back the wall.”

“I don’t like Jenkins all over her. He has been glued to her side most of the evening and I even saw the fucking pervert sniff her hair,” Levi said in a low voice.

Erwin scowled at that news as he glanced back at the group of men. The night was growing late and much alcohol had been consumed. Several of the men were getting loud and Erwin saw it was time to leave. Jenkins had imbibed a large quantity of wine and was getting braver with each passing minute. Erwin looked back at Levi and was about to tell him to have the carriage brought around when Levi suddenly jerked up away from the bar.

“What the fuck…?” he hissed menacingly, glaring at the group of men.

Erwin turned in time to see Jenkins slide his hand down the curve of Angel’s ass. Angel jerked and casually turned to move her ass out from under the man’s hand. But Jenkins was persistent and leaned into her, leering down the front of her dress. Levi had already taken several steps in their direction when Erwin placed a hand on his shoulder. “Let me handle it.” Erwin knew it would not be a good idea for Levi to break the councilman in half, no matter how much he deserved it.

As he strode over toward the group of men, his mind quickly worked through several ideas on how to diffuse the situation without losing the promised funding. When he settled on what he thought was the best option, he hoped Angel would forgive him and that Levi wouldn’t come across the room and break _him_ in half. Pulling himself up to his full impressive height, he casually made his way through the group of men to Angel’s side. When she looked gratefully up at him, he gently slid the back of his knuckles across the soft skin of her jaw and down the length of her neck. He then trailed the tips of his fingers down the bare skin of her back revealed by the provocative dress until he slid his hand around to grip her waist and pull her up against his side, away from Jenkins.

He felt Angel stiffen at the intimate contact with his body, but then she leaned into him as she caught on to what he was doing. The conversation in the group stuttered to a halt as every man there recognized that Erwin was announcing his claim to the beautiful woman in their midst. Jenkins jerked back as if burned. The man might be full of his own self-importance and depravity, but Erwin Smith and his captain terrified him. Angel felt a blush creep up her cheeks as she knew what everyone in that room now thought about her relationship with the Commander. The men now looked at her with a leering speculation. She caught sight of several of the wives whispering together, throwing knowing looks in her direction.

“Well, gentlemen, it’s a long way back to headquarters. We thank you for your generous hospitality tonight,” Erwin smoothly stated as he started to guide her away from the group and toward the door, hand still firmly around her waist.

Jenkins, feeling a little more liquid courage shooting through his veins, loudly said, “Well at least you and the good captain will have some enjoyable entertainment for the long journey back,” as he leered suggestively at Angel.

Angel gasped at the lewd implication from the odious man, and Erwin halted midstride. Several men backed up a couple of steps as Erwin turned around and pinned Jenkins with a steely gaze. Angel felt the tension in the air behind her and turned around in time to grab Levi as he shot past her, a murderous glint in his cold grey gaze. She kept a tight grip on Levi’s hard bicep as she heard Erwin command in a low menacing voice, “You’ll keep a civil tongue when you speak of my soldiers. They are the men and women who keep the monsters at bay so you can sleep soundly in your comfortable bed at night.”

Erwin held Jenkins’ gaze a moment longer to drive home his point, before Jenkins finally dropped his eyes to the ground. Erwin gave a quick glance around the circle of men before nodding, “Gentlemen.”

Angel noted with relief that several faces of the councilmen revealed they felt that Jenkins had gone too far with the Commander. Then Erwin was quickly escorting her out of the room and out the front door to their waiting carriage. Erwin handed her up into the carriage and she collapsed against the far seat before he and Levi climbed in after her and they were off.

The ride home was long and tension filled the silence. Erwin leaned his head against the back of the seat and closed his eyes as he was suddenly overcome with exhaustion. He should be happy as he had secured funding for another few months. He didn’t think the abrupt ending to the evening was going to change that as most council members agreed that Jenkins was an odious swine. But instead of relieved, he just felt dirty. He cracked open his eyes to look at the woman sitting across from him. She sat composed in the seat, her head leaning against the window with her eyes closed. He knew she wasn’t asleep because of the lines of tension around her mouth. She looked very young sitting in her corner of the seat. And he felt so very old, with the weight of his decisions sinking into his bones. People thought he didn’t get involved in relationships due to the constant threat of death hanging over every member of the Corps. The truth was he couldn’t let anyone close enough to get contaminated by him. The stains on his hands were more than just the blood of the many soldiers he sent to their deaths with each new expedition beyond the walls. His list of sins was long and varied.

For a brief moment he indulged in the fantasy that he could have a happy life with a woman like Angel. He could pretend they were on their way home from a lovely social function in town. He would hold her hand as they walked down the hallways of headquarters toward his office. And once they got to the privacy of their rooms, he would kiss her neck as he slowly slid the pearl encrusted straps of her dress off her shoulders, revealing more of that soft skin he felt down the length of her back. The carriage hit a rut in the road, jolting him back from his thoughts. He dropped his hands to his lap to hide the uncomfortable tightening of his groin as he jerked his mind back to reality. It was a fantasy that could never happen because he will continue to make decisions like tonight, using the people and the tools at his disposal to further humanity’s cause.

A movement to his right brought Levi to mind. He could feel the rage boiling off his best soldier, and he knew most of it was directed at him. While most people thought that Levi had the morals of an alley cat, Erwin knew that to only be partly true. Levi was a hard man who had no problem killing when necessary and his moral compass was not the same as most people. He was brutal and couldn’t be bothered with sensibilities. It was generally believed that he had no feelings. But Erwin knew the opposite to be true. He cared a great deal for the people he was responsible for, or for those few he considered friends. And currently he was not happy with Erwin for his treatment of Angel or for putting Angel in this position in the first place.

Erwin sighed and ran both his hands through his hair before leaning his head back again, closing his eyes. The movement drew Angel’s attention and she opened her eyes to look at the man across from her. She wanted to be angry with him. But looking at him sitting across from her, she just couldn’t muster her anger. He looked exhausted: his broad shoulders drooped, his hair was mussed from his hands, and she could see the tired lines around his eyes and generous mouth. She knew that tonight was just a small taste of the shit he had to deal with on a regular basis to keep the Survey Corps active and running. She had the absurd urge to reach across the space that separated them and smooth the lines of tension between his brows. Glancing at Levi, she knew that was impossible, but she vowed to do what she could to make Erwin’s life a little easier.

As if he was aware of her thoughts of him, Levi shifted angrily in his seat and unwittingly drew her attention. He still looked like he was ready to kill someone. Anger and frustration rolled off him in waves and she was concerned that Erwin was the target of his animosity, now that the councilman was far behind them. Afraid that he would do or say something to damage his friendship with Erwin in his anger, Angel reached over and placed her hand on his arm. As his gaze shot to hers at the contact, she gave him a small smile to indicate she was fine. She could feel the tension in his arm as his whole body hummed with leashed violence, so she squeezed his hard forearm again, willing him to get himself under control. She heard him inhale a large breath and then slowly exhale through his nose as he brought his anger under control. Angel released the breath she was holding as she drew her hand back to her lap, curling her fingers around the lingering heat from Levi’s arm.

The carriage jolted to a halt in front of the headquarters of the Survey Corps. The moon was high in the sky, belying the late hour as Erwin tiredly crawled out of the carriage to hand Angel down. As Levi climbed out of the carriage, Angel turned and gave a perfect salute to her superior officers, causing both men to wince, before she disappeared inside the building.

Still gazing at the doors where Angel disappeared, Erwin broke the silence, “Go ahead, say what you need to say.”

Levi also avoided looking at the other man as he glared at the door Angel had disappeared behind. “The next time you need to whore out a member of the Corps, pick a member of someone else’s fucking squad.” With that, he walked off in the opposite direction that Angel had taken, leaving Erwin alone with his thoughts and regrets.


	5. Water Under The Bridge

It had been five months since their first mission as Special Ops. Two successful missions later, and they had all added a decent number of titan kills to their resumes. And no squad casualties. All of their rigorous training had paid off. They worked well together and were developing quite a reputation among the Survey Corps. Levi’s skills as squad captain were adding to his already legendary status as a fighter.

As for their personal relationship, Levi and Angel had managed to put the incident in his office behind them and focus on the mission. The evening spent in the Interior notwithstanding, their interactions were restricted solely to superior officer and subordinate. Their training was even more rigorous since the fall of Wall Maria so neither had much time to reflect. Levi had managed to reconstruct his walls and retreat behind his shields of caustic indifference and insouciance. He treated Angel with the same cool detached demeanor that he did everyone else. He snapped at her if she made a mistake and his praise was hard earned. Angel knew that was how it had to be, for the sake of everyone in the squad.

But late at night, as she struggled to fall asleep and the pervasive quiet of the barracks pressed in around her, her thoughts wandered back to that evening in Levi’s office. While her mind shied away from the violence, her body hummed with awakened awareness. She knew anytime Levi entered the room because her whole body came alive. The sound of his husky monotone in conversation nearby would send sparks along her nerve endings. She noticed the way he walked across the training field with an animalistic grace to his movements, or the way he sat on his horse with careless ease. She did her best not to show anything during the day to give her thoughts away to her squad. She laughed and joked with her teammates. At meals, she grumbled about Levi’s rigid training and cleaning schedules. Thankfully, Levi spent the majority of his meals at the officers’ table or in his office working. Most of the interactions between Levi and her consisted of “Yes, Captain” or “Sorry, Captain”. However, at night, her thoughts would wander to where they shouldn’t go: the feel of his hard body, the scent of his skin.

At least she still had her friendship with Erwin. Angel was gratified to learn that their disastrous evening in the Interior was actually a success for the Corps as the Commander was able to procure additional funding for a while longer. Erwin had been savvy enough to give her a little space after that evening, for which Angel was grateful. While she wasn’t angry at him, she still needed some time to regain her equilibrium. Meanwhile, Commander Smith had become a very busy man running the Survey Corps and navigating the political waters of high command since the fall of Wall Maria. The purpose of the Corps had shifted, with its main goal being the reclamation of the land lost to the titans inside Maria. There were small villages outside Wall Rose to search for any remaining survivors and new supply lines to lay down.

Instead of summoning her to his office to clear the air between them, Erwin demonstrated his usual tactical genius by calling her name early one morning while she was out for her usual run around the training grounds. She knew that Erwin was also fond of running to keep in shape as it was a solitary endeavor, and he was aware that his presence in the gym and at the other training facilities was sometimes disruptive. He tended to use those facilities at odd hours, when they were mostly deserted, furthering the legend that he never slept. This particular morning, he hailed her when she was skirting the east barracks, as the sun was just beginning to show over the roof of the main office building, blazing streaks of red and orange across the cloudless sky. Easily catching up to her, he moderated his longer stride to match hers and they fell into a comfortable rhythm.

After a companionable silence for several minutes, Erwin began, “Hudson, I regret how things went down in Mitras and I hope you’ll forgive my behavior. It was the best I could come up with on short notice to extricate us from the situation without things getting uglier. I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable and for any inappropriate actions on my part. I hope we can continue our friendship without this situation irrevocably staining it.”

As they continued running, Angel contemplated Erwin’s words. He seemed more concerned that she was upset at his actions, when, in fact, she hadn’t thought twice about what he had done to get them safely out the door that night. Granted, she did not like the idea that most of the council now thought she was Erwin’s mistress. But she was unlikely to see any of them again, and she had more pressing things to worry about as their missions increased in urgency and danger, so she hadn’t really thought any more about it.

She said as much to Erwin, adding, “Commander, don’t worry about it. I know you did your best in a difficult situation. There was no way of knowing any of that was going to happen. I’m just glad the evening was a success.”

At that, Erwin abruptly stopped running, prompting Angel to stop too. They both stood in the grass on the edge of the maneuvering course, breathing lightly as the sun crawled higher, now a full blazing orb above the trees of the nearby forest.

“That’s where you are wrong. I had a good idea of what would happen. I have seen what some of those men are capable of, personally, and I have heard reports of other more despicable actions that go on behind the scenes. Would you be shocked to know that I have not been above blackmail to get what I want from them? However, I should not have involved you and I am truly sorry.”

She looked at his handsome face and read the sincerity in his blue eyes. She felt again like she should be angry at him. He used her, and put her in a difficult situation to further his cause. She looked away, at the treetops swaying in the light, early morning breeze, and felt the sweat begin to cool at her temples. This was the man who signed the orders to send her out regularly to face titans outside the walls. Not much difference in Angel’s eyes.

She turned back to Erwin, “We’re good, Commander.” With that, she took off running again. After a moment, he continued after her, a small smile briefly relaxing the tension lines permanently etched around his eyes.

That evening, she showed up at his office door for the first time in weeks to borrow a new book. It was on this visit that he introduced her to the game of chess, having recently purchased a beautiful hand crafted board during his latest visit to the Interior.

Chess quickly became a favorite way to pass the time in the evenings as the days grew shorter and the weather grew chillier. It was during one of these games late one evening, sitting at the chessboard near the roaring fire in Erwin’s office, that he brought up the subject of Levi. Erwin and Angel had left the mess hall together after dinner to head to his office for another match. “The Special Ops Squad seems to be going well,” he said. “How’s Levi? I had heard some stories of his unorthodox training methods. But it’s hard to argue with the results. Two successful missions with no casualties is impressive.”

Angel kept her eyes on the chessboard, trying to keep her response casual. She knew that Erwin was very astute and he rarely asked questions just to make small talk. So she answered honestly, “Levi is turning out to be an excellent captain. You made a wise decision, even though I questioned it at the time. Most of the squad would gladly put their life on the line for him.” She moved her rook, then turned her face to gaze into the flames.

“What about you, Angel?” he asked her quietly. She looked up to meet his eyes over the chessboard. That clear blue gaze seemed to look right through her and see all her secrets. She wondered if he knew. Did Levi tell him? She knew the two men were close and that Levi trusted Erwin more than anyone else. Would he have felt the need to tell Erwin what happened? Angel raised her brows at him in question, trying to give nothing away. 

“Would you die for him?” he queried softly, leaning forward resting his elbows on his knees.

“Yes,” she said, meeting his gaze steadily. “The same as I would for you, Commander.” She hoped the use of his honorific instead of his given name would put an end to this line of questioning. The air seemed charged between them, with something unspoken. Angel couldn’t figure out what it was, and she gripped her knees to keep from shifting uncomfortably in her seat under Erwin’s penetrating gaze. Suddenly Erwin broke the contact and looked back at the chessboard. After moving his knight, he leaned back in his chair. “Checkmate,” he said.

_Levi watched as Angel and Erwin left the mess hall together. The last few months had been a challenge, trying to forget the events of that night in his office. Luckily Angel seemed able to move on and not despise him too much. Or if she did, she wisely kept it to herself. He had half expected hell to come raining down on him the next day. But she had apparently told no one about the animal in their midst, in spite of her growing friendship with Erwin. He had almost confessed himself, and was halfway to Erwin’s office a few days later. But something held him back. He had passed by the infirmary and heard her laughter. Pausing just outside the doorway, he looked in to see her laughing as she was practicing her suturing. The male medic helping her was clearly enthralled by her charms, as Levi took in the scene before him. He had almost made his presence known with a caustic remark when he realized this was for the best. A filthy animal such as himself didn’t deserve someone like her, even if it wouldn’t make his life and job infinitely more complicated. Hopefully she could find someone worthy to treat her as she deserved. And it wasn’t his place to sully her life by trying to alleviate his own guilt. He had quietly backed away from the door and retreated to his office._

_Now, as Angel went through the doors ahead of Erwin, Levi watched as Erwin’s gaze lingered on her. She smiled back at him over her shoulder, saying something about pawns. He heard Erwin’s deep reply, but couldn’t make out his words. However, Angel’s answering laughter flowed over his skin. Then they were gone from sight. Shit. He dropped his gaze to his empty cup. He tried to tell himself that Erwin was a good match for Angel. He was a good man and he deserved some happiness. And it didn’t matter to him anyway. He had let his emotions seep out of some cracks in his walls that night and she was unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time. But his mind kept conjuring up pictures of Angel and Erwin together. Jaw set, he abruptly rose from his chair and left the hall, through a different door than Angel had used. Several of the newer recruits scattered at the thunderous expression on the normally impassive face of the Captain._

A couple of weeks later, Angel had grown tired at her inability to sleep and decided to make a cup of tea. She also hoped that walking through the halls to the kitchen would help alleviate some of the restlessness that permeated her nights these days. It was late and the barracks were quiet as she padded to the kitchen, carrying a small candle to light her way. The corridors were dark and her soft shoes made little noise on the stone floor. The small sliver of moon that was visible in the large windows she passed didn’t provide much light in the dreary hallway. As she approached the kitchen, she noticed a faint light coming from the doorway. Angel paused as she didn’t really want to talk to anyone. She just wanted a cup of tea. Standing just outside the door, she was contemplating that she really needed to get a small brazier to heat water like Levi had in his office when she heard a noise from within the kitchen.

“You might as well come in,” said a familiar annoyed voice.

Angel only hesitated for a moment longer before she crossed the threshold to the kitchen to see Levi sitting at the large wooden table in the center of the room, cup of tea on the table in front of him. He had clearly come to the kitchen to alleviate his own sleeplessness for he was wearing sleep pants with a shirt only partially buttoned. She carefully kept her gaze from the abundance of skin exposed by his casual posture. She took a moment to wonder why he came to the kitchen after all, when he could make tea in his personal rooms.

“Hello, Captain. I didn’t mean to disturb you. I just wanted a glass of water,” Angel improvised, keeping her gaze over his shoulder.

“Have a seat.”

“No, really. I should be heading back to bed.”

Levi raised a black brow at her in challenge. With a sigh, Angel sat ungracefully in the chair to his right. He got up and retrieved another cup from the cabinet, then poured her some tea, adding just the right amount of honey.

They sat in the cool night air in silence, and the silence stretched out uncomfortably. Angel mourned the loss of their easy familiarity. They used to be able to sit in comfortable silence, which was good since Levi was not much for long conversations and Angel never felt the need to fill the space with chatter. She sipped her tea and made patterns out of the random marks cut into the wood of the table. She saw a brief flash of light in the window behind Levi. A storm was far in the distance, heading their way. Immediately she was reminded of the storm that raged outside the window of Levi’s office that night so many months ago.

Angel put her cup down, about to leave, when Levi suddenly spoke up, his low voice quiet in the dim light of the kitchen.

“My mom used to tell me your story about Hades and Persephone, but she gave them different names.” His brows drew together in a perplexed frown.

Angel started in surprise at this statement. It took her a moment to follow his train of thought. Then she remembered, back when they were working together through Erwin’s books, there was one about ancient myths of which Levi was particularly fond. Curious, she gazed thoughtfully at Levi and patiently waited for him to continue. She had never heard him open up about his past or his family. He wasn’t looking at her, but rather at the table, apparently lost in some distant memory and Angel wondered if he would continue. 

After a while, he did. “It’s one of my few memories of her. Then you and I read the mythological story in that book of Erwin’s. I was surprised at the similarities and have since wondered if there wasn’t some reason that she kept telling me that particular story, over and over. And why the names were different. Maybe it had something to do with how she wound up in a brothel, and who my father could be.”

At this, he leveled his sharp eyes at her as if gauging her reaction. Angel had long since stopped reacting to things she found out about people. Everyone had a story and she had already figured out that Levi’s was full of more shit than most. Angel knew he would not appreciate pity or sorrow, or even a comforting touch, for his lost childhood. She continued to steadily look at him, hand wrapped around her lukewarm tea, as if waiting for him to continue. She had not seen this side of Levi before. He never revealed anything about his past to anyone, even all those evenings they used to spend working through Erwin’s books.

He had apparently finished his revelations as he dropped his gaze back down to the hard wooden surface of the table, and the silence stretched out again. A bright flash of light once again lit up the window behind Levi and Angel could tell the storm was drawing closer. This time a low rumble of thunder followed the brilliant lightening, and she shivered.

“I’m sorry, Angel,” Levi said so softly she thought she had misheard him. With that he met her gaze, and in his eyes was none of the usual cynicism or annoyance. As she looked into his clear blue grey eyes, she saw nothing but regret and self-disgust. Angel dropped her eyes to her hands, which were now clasped tightly together on the table. She heard another low roll of thunder, still far in the distance. “It’s no excuse, but I was struggling to process some long buried emotions and I lashed out at you in the most unforgivable way possible. And because of that, I destroyed one of my few friendships.”

At this, Angel raised her head and looked at him again. He was still looking at her steadily, his honor not letting him drop his gaze. But his fists were clenched together on the hard surface of the table. Angel knew this was hard for him, and she also knew he wouldn’t let her forgive him, because he couldn’t forgive himself. Suddenly, Angel realized somewhere along the way she had lost her anger at Levi, and that realization seemed to ease the tightness in her chest. She felt lighter and comfortable again in her own skin.

Realizing there was nothing she could say to ease his suffering, as only time would be able to do that, Angel decided to use a different tactic. Taking a gamble, she reached out and covered his clenched fists with her hands. She saw him startle at the warm contact and his eyes widened.

“Erwin taught me a new game he brought back from the Interior. I think you’d be good at it. Are you busy tomorrow evening?”

He hesitated a moment as his brows drew together, then, “No.”

“Fine, usual time. Thanks for the tea, Captain.” Then she got up from the table and walked out the door of the kitchen, her soft shoes not making any noise on the stone floor.

_Levi sat there for a while longer, finishing his tea that had long since grown cold. He wasn’t sure what to think or do, and that made him angry. Angry at himself for getting in this situation, angry at Angel for getting under his skin and always keeping him off balance. Why couldn’t she rage at him for his unconscionable actions, or at least fear him, like everyone else did. Was it wise to resume their acquaintance? Probably not. But they had to work together and this was the quickest way to get things back to normal. He refused to admit it was because he wanted her warmth back in his life, that being around her made him feel like he had a place among the living, not existing constantly in shadows among the ghosts of his fallen friends and comrades._

The following evening, Angel paused outside Levi’s office door. She gripped the chess board more securely in her arm, and took a deep breath before knocking on the hard oak surface. As she waited for permission to enter, she recalled the look on Erwin’s face when she asked him if she could borrow the board to teach someone else the game. Luckily for her, he had already informed her that he couldn’t enjoy their regular match that evening due to a meeting. Angel told him she needed to find someone to practice with when he was gone if she ever had a prayer of beating him someday. Angel had a feeling he knew who she had in mind as he leveled that blue gaze at her.

“Of course, Angel, and welcome to it.” He graciously helped her pack it up, and as she was leaving his office, he bid her a good match. Angel couldn’t figure out why her interactions with Erwin left her so unsettled lately. He was a complete gentleman, intelligent conversationalist, and generally enjoyable to be around. But sometimes the intense way he looked at her made her think he knew all her secrets.

“Enter,” Angel heard in Levi’s low tone, bringing her back to the present.

Trying to ignore her shaking hands, Angel opened the door and entered to find him at the familiar task of making tea. “Hey,” she said casually, searching for something more meaningful to say, as she stood awkwardly inside the door.

“Hey,” he threw back at her, sardonically arching a brow. At this Angel laughed. The whole situation was bizarre, so she laughed again and shook her head. Levi kept gazing at her steadily with that impassive look on his face. But the tension left the room and Angel moved to the table to set up the board. He came over with the tea and she proceeded to explain the pieces, how they moved, and the objective of the game. Levi was instantly intrigued and before long they were knee deep in an intense game, all awkwardness forgotten. Angel knew Levi was a great strategist on the battlefield, so she had a feeling he would take to the game immediately. She was right. Angel only barely beat him in the first game, and he wanted to play again right away. Several hours and several pots of tea later and he had her king on the run.

“I concede,” she said while stifling a yawn. She could see he wanted to argue, but decided to accept victory graciously, and helped her pack up the game.

“Thank you, Angel. I look forward to a rematch.”

“You mean you look forward to kicking my ass again.”

A hint of a smile lurked at the corners of his mouth before he got up out of his chair and walked her to the door.

“Goodnight, Levi.”

“Goodnight, Angel.”

Angel managed to make it down the hall and turn the corner before she collapsed against the wall. She had to pull herself together before she made it back to her room, in case Hanje was there. She should be relieved that everything seemed to be back to normal. Her problem was that she wasn’t sure she wanted things to be back to normal.

“So what’s up with you and Shorty?” Hanje was still awake, reading some reports in bed as Angel came in.

She busied herself with putting down the chessboard and taking off her shoes so she wouldn’t have to look at Hanje. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you guys seemed pretty tight there for a while, then broke off while you got all chummy with Erwin. Now you seem to be back at it again since Erwin is busy. What gives?”

At this summation, Angel gave her a droll look. “Seriously Hanje? What kind of garbage is circulating around in that head of yours?”

“I don’t know. It looks to me as if you are playing the two top dogs against each other.”

At this, Angel stopped dead and glared at her. “Do you really think so low of me as to think I would do something like that? And to think that either Erwin or Levi would put up with that kind of adolescent bullshit? What the fuck?”

“Guys do strange things when they are lead around by their dicks, even the smart ones, we all know that. But to answer your question: No, I don’t really think that you would do something so despicable. But it is curious.”

Angel relaxed slightly. “Well, you know that Erwin had me working through the maps with Levi, to get him familiar with the geography of the area when he was new to the Corps. And when that was done... “, Angel shrugged nonchalantly, “He’s not the most agreeable of people.” She looked directly at Hanje. “But he’s still my squad leader and I’m still assigned to help him with his paperwork.” Angel knew that last part was a bit of a lie as she hadn’t been helping him with his paperwork in a while.

After a moment, Hanje laughed. “For real! Oh my goodness, you poor soul, having to put up with his surly attitude regularly. Speaking of your squad, that Eld is a tall glass of water I wouldn’t mind taking a sip of. Any insight there?”

Angel took a breath, happy that Hanje was diverted from her ‘relationships’. “Uh, no, not really.”

“Seriously, have you not noticed the hottie in your squad?”

Angel laughed. “No, not really. We have spent so much time together and been through some crazy shit. It’s hard to see him as a man in that way. You get a whole different perspective on people when they have vomited on your boots. That was one of Levi’s objectives in our training, so we wouldn’t have any romantic or sexual complications in the squad.”

“You’re kidding? I had heard some stories about the training you guys were doing. Does that apply to Levi as well?”

Angel didn’t like the way Hanje was looking at her again, or the direction of the conversation. “Well, he hasn’t vomited on my boots. But I can tell you that there is another whole category for the person who is administering the torture, and it’s decidedly NOT romantic.”

Hanje continued looking at her for another long minute before she laughed, “You’re right. I’m pretty sure that short shit doesn’t have a heart, and I can’t even imagine him cracking that cool exterior for anything as lowly as fucking. I mean, what on earth would it take to get a guy like that off anyway? No thanks! But I know there are plenty who would like to try. I see how some of the women look at him. Whatever! So Eld really vomited on your boots?” Hanje’s train of thought jumped from one track to another and almost gave Angel whiplash.

At this, Angel busied herself getting ready for bed so Hanje wouldn’t see how heated her face was. She knew exactly what it looked like when Levi’s cool exterior cracked.


	6. Deep End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So just a warning of a spicy chapter ahead. I had written a whole bunch of other one-shots before writing this chapter, and felt like I had written enough sex (is there really such a thing?). So I originally had this as a 'fade to black' kind of scene. Then I realized, in the chronology of things, this is the FIRST TIME they are really together, so I had to make it REALLY GOOD. Enjoy!

Levi was a stickler for hand-to-hand combat drills. Angel realized that most squads didn’t practice this once out of the Training Corps. However, Levi felt that it not only helped their strength training, but it also kept their reflexes sharp. She had missed their last day of combat drills because she had been working in the infirmary on that particular day, so it had been a while for her. She was looking forward to releasing some of her tension beating the shit out of her squad mates. They were allowed to dress in casual gym clothes as they met in the building on the edge of the barracks where Levi had set up a gym, of sorts. There were all sorts of articles found around the training grounds that they used to train with: old wheels and drags, heavy bags of grain, ropes, padded wooden stands for kicking and hitting. And there was a cleared area for sparring.

Gunter and Angel walked in together and saw Eld and Petra already sparring. It was misleading to watch the petite red headed woman face off against the tall blond man. At first glance, you would think that Petra wouldn’t have a chance against the large man. At second glance, you would think that Eld was going easy on her and letting her get in some hits. At third glance, you would finally realize that they were actually pretty evenly matched. Eld had size and strength, but Petra had speed and agility. The squad’s sparring matches could get pretty intense and they were not allowed to pull their punches. As a result, Angel had to use her medical training more than once on these days. But today it was clear that Eld and Petra were just messing around before the real sparring started.

Angel was just finishing up some of her warm up stretches and heading over to the rope tied high up in the rafters for climbing, when Levi entered the building. “Hudson!” he bellowed across the room. “Commander wants to see you.”

She jogged over to him and gave him a questioning look. His expression was unreadable as he tilted his head toward the door, indicating she should go immediately. Angel inwardly sighed. There was a decided disadvantage to being good friends with the Commander. For some reason she became his go-to girl when he needed a favor.

Fifteen minutes later, Angel was heading down the hallway of HQ and knocked on Erwin’s door. She was suddenly conscious of Hanje’s comment from a few nights ago and wondered if others were commenting on the amount of time she spent with the Commander. She really didn’t like to be the center of attention and gossip.

“Come in,” she heard Erwin’s deep voice command.

“You wanted to see me, sir,” she said as she gave him a brief salute.

Erwin looked up from his desk as she entered, a brief smile on his face at her formality as he dismissed her salute, and then did a double take at her casual gym clothes.

“Sparring day,” she explained. He nodded in understanding. “Try not to hurt Oluo too badly this time.” Angel grinned, remembering what had happened last time. “You should join us. We wouldn’t want you getting too soft in this cushy desk job you have now,” she teased him.

She saw his blue eyes flare with interest. “I might take you up on that offer.”

Angel rubbed her hands together in anticipation. It was great to spar with people outside her squad. They all knew each other so well that they knew each other’s moves. Kind of got boring sometimes. She relished going up against someone different. And she knew Erwin’s skill level from having previously been on his squad, before he was made Commander. But she had never fought him in hand-to-hand combat. He saw her eyes light up in challenge and he raised an eyebrow at her. “Name the day and time,” she said, “if you think you can take me.”

At that, he choked, then coughed into his hand, but kept his gaze steady. “Oh, I think I could manage,” he softly said. He then coughed again and dropped his gaze to some papers on his desk before briskly changing the subject.

“Sorry to pull you away from training, but I had a few minutes and wanted to get this taken care of. I’ve got another special project I need your help on.”

Angel inwardly groaned. The last ‘special project’ she helped Erwin out with was educating Levi. She’s still not sure about the outcome of that one.

But this new project didn’t seem to be as complicated and she left his office heading out to find fellow soldiers Nifa and Garro to help her out. Once she had met with them and they set up a time to head to the Garrison office the next day, she jogged back to the gym to see if she could still catch her squad working out.

As she walked into the gym, she thought it was empty at first and cursed at missing the whole session. Angel was really looking forward to sparring today, needing to work out some aggression. Then she noticed a figure at the far end throwing punches at a hanging bag of grain. There was no mistaking who the dark haired figure with the lightning fast fists was. She thought about turning around and leaving, but figured she owed him an explanation for missing the whole session. So she walked across the room and waited until he acknowledged her, all the while admiring his perfect stance and form as he went through various combinations.

At first Angel thought he was going to ignore her completely. She stood there for several minutes, watching as he pounded the rough burlap with his bare fists. Finally, after a last powerful punch to the bag, he stopped and turned to her. His raven hair was dripping and hanging in his face, obscuring his eyes. His shirtless chest was heaving and sweat ran in rivulets over the sculpted planes of his body. She carefully kept her eyes trained on his face.

“Sorry, Captain. The Commander wants me to work on a project to help the Garrison with the refugees from Wall Maria. He said it shouldn’t cut too much into training, and should be done before the next scheduled expedition. He said he would talk to you about it to make sure you didn’t have a problem with it.”

He nodded without saying anything, just watching her with those unreadable eyes. By this time, he had picked up a nearby towel and was wiping off his face so she could finally see his eyes.

“But I’m kind of pissed at missing the session today. I was really looking forward to kicking someone’s ass.” Angel smirked. “I even challenged the Commander to spar.”

At this, his eyebrows shot up in surprise. “He’s looking forward to it,” Angel replied in answer to his unspoken question.

“I’ll bet he is,” he quietly said. Then a speculative gleam came into his eyes. “If you want to spar, let’s go.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. She hadn’t really sparred with Levi before. He usually watched and instructed while the rest of them sparred with each other, only every now and then using one of them to demonstrate a particular move or combination.

She felt the adrenaline shoot through her veins as they faced off at each other, slowly circling. Her surroundings faded away as she focused entirely on the man in front of her. She was aware of every nuance of his body, every shift of muscle. Angel immediately feinted to the right and then came in with a sweep from the left. Levi easily avoided her unexpected movement and countered with a left hook and right uppercut. She avoided the hook but he managed to graze her jaw with the uppercut. Damn, he was fast. He didn’t give her a chance to recover and went for a roundhouse. She decided to take him off balance by launching herself at him while he was mid-kick. He stumbled backwards, briefly off balance at her unexpected attack. But she couldn’t press her advantage as she tried to take him down around the waist because her hands slipped on his sweat-slick body. Instead, he managed to grab her wrist and haul her up against him with her arm bent against her back. They were face to face and he had her pinned up against length of his body. She knew she was no match for his strength, so she decided to use her training and fight dirty. She dropped her gaze to his lips and softened, melting her body against his. She saw his lips part as his breath hitched, and she felt his hold on her arm loosen slightly. She took advantage and reared her head back before slamming it into his nose.

Angel heard the crack as she made contact and his breath hissed between his teeth in pain as he let go of her arm. They backed away from each other and circled again. “Touché,” he whispered, as blood trickled from his nose, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“First blood,” she said, as she rolled her head on her shoulders to loosen her muscles.

Angel immediately went on the offensive again and they exchanged a series of blows that took them across the room. By now, she was streaming sweat and knew she was seriously outgunned. But she was proud of the fact that she had managed to stay on her feet, and the only blood he had drawn from her was a busted lip. After she managed to land another lucky blow to his ribs, he had finally had enough and slung her against a nearby wall, knocking the wind out of her. Before she could recover, he was there with his forearm against her throat, pinning her to the wall. They were both breathing heavily. She arrogantly cocked an eyebrow at him and he put a little more pressure against her throat, demanding she concede.

Suddenly the air changed and Angel became aware of his close proximity. She could tell the moment he felt it too. He loosened his hold on her throat and his gaze dropped to her lips. They were so close, their breath mingled. Angel was not sure who actually made the first move, but the next thing she knew his soft lips were against her own. He moved them tentatively over hers, as if questioningly. Angel answered by slanting her head and deepening the kiss. Her hand crept up and cupped his hard jaw, before sliding up into his sweat-soaked hair. For the second time in a half hour, her body melted against his. He groaned in the back of his throat and began to respond more urgently before suddenly ripping himself away and retreating a few steps, breathing raggedly. Angel sagged back against the wall, thankful for its support and watched him warily through her lashes.

_Dear Gods, what was the matter with me? Levi wondered. Years of perfecting his self-control and successfully keeping his emotions behind his walls and this auburn haired woman kept throwing him off balance and getting under his carefully crafted defenses. What was it about her? She managed to surprise him. Often. And that was rare. She didn’t react to him the way most people did. She was not intimidated by him, and she had more reason than most to fear him. He was afraid she saw through his walls, and for some reason she wasn’t horrified by what she found there. She was also amazingly talented. Not many could hang with him in hand-to-hand combat as long as she did, and manage to draw first blood. Didn’t matter if she did it with trickery. He had taught his soldiers to take advantage of their opponent’s weaknesses, and that is exactly what she had done._

_But all of that was irrelevant. There was no way she could possibly want his hands on her after what he had done. Surely he had shattered any possibility of taking this further, if he even knew how to do that. He was such an emotional cripple and had nothing to offer a woman like her. And he was her commanding officer. Fuck. He was jeopardizing everything: his sanity, his squad, his career. His heart._

_He backed up farther, shaking his head._

“Levi…”

“No! I can’t! You can’t possibly want this! You know what kind of animal I am!” His voice came out louder than he intended, and it seemed to echo through the empty room as he drug his hand through his hair.

“You’re not an animal.” Angel kept her voice steady, in spite of the turmoil rolling through her body.

“How can you say that?” He didn’t wait for her to answer before his impenetrable mask dropped back into place and he said, his voice once again cold and distant, “This isn’t happening,” before turning on his heel and walking toward the doors.

“Levi,” Angel called out, “What do you want? For you?” At her question, he paused midstride for a moment, then continued out the door without answering.

_Levi continued walking at a carefully measured pace until he reached the door to his office and private quarters. At one point Hanje tried to stop him to ask him a question and he put up a hand, “Not now!” as he kept walking. Once inside his office, he locked the door and went immediately to his private shower to turn on the water. He stripped, letting his clothes drop to the floor, and thrust his body under the cold spray. But the cold water did nothing to cool the fire running through his veins. He braced his forearm against the wall and took himself in hand, working in practiced strokes as the cold water hit his shoulders and sluiced down his back and flanks. The water had finally begun to warm up when he ran his thumb over the sensitive tip, spreading the slickness he found there. In his head he could hear Angel asking him what he wanted, in her husky voice. His breathing sounded harsh to his own ears as he neared the end, every muscle taunt in his body. He tightened his fist and gave one final stroke before his body released, and as the final spasms died down he leaned his forehead on his arm and whispered one anguished word._

_“You.”_

After showering, Angel dragged herself to the mess hall for lunch. She wasn’t really in the mood to socialize, but she knew her absence would just cause more problems, so she decided to show up. Angel walked into the mess hall and sat down at the table with her squad and several others, keeping an eye on Levi, who was currently sitting at the officers’ table.

“Wow, what happened to you?” Leia asked.

Shit, Angel had forgotten about her injuries from the sparring session. Her bottom lip was split and she had a nice bruise on her jaw. And those were just the visible ones. Several of her ribs were bruised, her throat was slightly sore. And her heart ached. But they didn’t need to know about that.

“Just sparring with the Captain,” she said as casually as she could.

“What?! Seriously?! And you lived to tell the tale?!” This comment was from Gunter, who was sitting across the table from her and currently eyeing her with a mixture of disbelief and awe. 

“Wait!” Eld spoke up louder than his normal quiet tones. “The captain’s nose? Did you do that?” With that, he glanced at the officers’ table, and lowered his voice, apparently afraid that their voices would carry across the room.

Angel had no idea what Levi’s nose looked like, but assumed he was sporting at least a small bit of damage from when she rammed her head into it. She didn’t really want to talk about it, or anything else, to be honest. She just wanted to sit quietly and eat. But they were all looking at her expectantly and were not going to let it go, she could see. She heaved a sigh.

“Yes, I did that. Caught him distracted for a moment. Lucky shot.” At that she started to eat, hoping that would end the conversation.

Both Eld and Sareth whistled. “Holy shit!” Sareth exclaimed. “I need to come see these sparring sessions!” With that the conversation continued and flowed around Angel and she was able to choke down a few more bites of food before finally excusing herself and escaping out the door.

Since Angel had the rest of the afternoon off, she decided she really needed some peace and quiet to collect her thoughts. Petra wanted to go to the market, but Angel declined, collected the latest book she had borrowed from Erwin’s library, and headed out to her favorite spot behind the stables to read. The day was perfect, with the sun shining and a light breeze blowing through the nearby trees. It would be easy to imagine a world where danger, tragedy, and loss were not the steady diet of the Corps members on a day like today.

After strolling through the barn to inhale the comforting smells of the horses and give out a few pats to her favorites, she sat in the grass under one of the large shade trees near the edge of the forest. This was her favorite place to come and get away from the life she had chosen for herself years ago. It was well away from the noise of the main compound, and on the other side of the base from most of the training grounds. It was quiet. It was here that she was able to soak up the peace she needed to keep her soul from withering and making her hard. She had found there was a difference in being a hardened warrior and being hard. She had seen it happen to the few warriors that managed to live past their first year in the Corps. Each of them had their own coping mechanisms to deal with the staggering losses they were dealt week after week. Some succumbed to vice, some buried themselves in science and research, some worked with the horses, some hid behind a veneer of polished politeness. She could catalog many of her fellow veterans by the way they coped: Mike, Hanje, Eld, Gunter, Rico, Erwin, and Levi. Her mind stuttered at the thought of Levi, and she quickly picked up her book, determined to put him from her thoughts.

Unfortunately, the peace she was seeking was not coming. After realizing she had read the same paragraph four times, she finally put her book down and decided to focus on the problem of Levi. Angel thought of her options. The first one was to ignore everything that had happened so far and go on like nothing happened, possibly transferring to another squad if she felt that the safety and success of the squad was compromised. Even though that option was the most sensible, it left a coldness in her chest that she was afraid would never go away.

When had this infection set up residence in her? She had had crushes and attractions before, but she had always been able to maintain a perspective on where her priorities were. Any relationships she had in the past had been relegated to the fringes of her life. It was not healthy to form attachments in the Corps because that made the losses even harder to deal with. So why was she considering confronting this whole attraction with Levi head on? Her gut was telling her that she was not going to be able to keep him on the sidelines once she acted on it. And it would compromise everything she had been working on this past year. Of course, that option might also lead to nothing. She didn’t doubt that Levi felt some attraction to her, but he was much better equipped at keeping his feelings and emotions contained. Usually. Maybe she just needed to fuck him properly and get it over with. At that thought, she felt her body light up and heat pooled low in her belly as her blood started to thrum heavy in her veins. She flopped back in the grass and allowed her mind to wander down that path for a moment until she became aware of her accelerated breathing and her hand was slowly sliding down the waistband of her pants. With effort, she corralled her wayward thoughts and sat back up. Could she just fuck him and walk away? She had no doubt that he was capable of it. He certainly wasn’t inexperienced, but she had never noticed him attached to any particular female. She could only assume he chose his bedpartners discreetly and never formed any attachments. One and done seemed like it would be his style. Angel sighed. It was really out of her hands. But she knew she had to do something to alleviate the fire in her blood every time he was near. Giving up on her book, she lay back down in the warm grass, formulating a plan.

After dinner, she stopped by Erwin’s office, carrying a fresh pot of tea.

“Angel!” he exclaimed, his large frame rising from his seat behind his desk, genuinely glad to see her. Angel swore that man was always working. “So glad you came by this evening. Ready for a game? I could use a break,” he inquired, gesturing to the chess board in front of the fire. And he did look like he needed a break. Angel noted the tired lines around his eyes and his normally smooth hair was disheveled from his hands running through it repeatedly. Angel wondered again what magic he had to work to keep the Survey Corps running and funded, in addition to strategizing their next expedition to minimalize casualties. It was a daunting job and Angel knew he was up to it. But she had to wonder at how the man was able to keep up the brutal pace he set for himself. What was the cost? She was glad she had thought to bring him some tea and a small bite to eat since she didn’t see him at dinner earlier.

With a smile on his face, he came around from behind his desk to take the tea tray from her and set it on the nearby table, taking note of the small plate of cheese and bread, and the single cup.

“Actually, Erwin, I need a favor. Can I borrow the board for the evening? I need to make a peace offering.” Angel found she had a hard time meeting those sharp blue eyes, for some reason afraid that he would see what she had in mind.

She managed to look up in time to see Erwin’s eyes briefly cloud with disappointment. But then they sharpened on her face. “Peace offering?” he mused. Angel saw the wheels turning as he put his analytical brain to good use. Suddenly his eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “You did that to Levi’s face, didn’t you?” Angel was a little insulted at the credulity in his voice and she was getting annoyed at how shocked everyone was that she managed to get a hit on Levi.

Then Erwin threw back his head and laughed. And laughed. She stood there gaping at the sight of the big man now doubled over clutching his sides. Then she placed her hands on her hips and glared at him, no longer feeling guilty for deserting him this evening. Finally, his laughter subsided and he stood up, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

“I apologize,” he said contritely, even though she could still see the mirth lurking in his eyes. “I don’t mean to be insulting to you. It’s just that I have never seen another soldier manage to put a mark on Levi, including myself, and I would have given anything to have been there and witness it.”

 _Ah, no_ , she thought to herself, darkly. _I don’t think that would have been a good idea._ Out loud Angel managed to say, “It was a moment of distraction and I got in a lucky shot.”

“Levi doesn’t get distracted,” Erwin countered, suddenly serious. He gazed steadily at her face and she held the eye contact with difficulty, but offered no additional explanation. 

After a long moment, Erwin decided to let it go and his tired but genial nature resurfaced, like a mask dropping back into place. He leaned back against his desk, booted feet crossed at the ankles, muscular arms crossed over his chest. “Well, at least that explains why he was more surly than usual in our meeting this afternoon. Of course you are welcome to the chess board. I look forward to hearing about the outcome.”

Eager to escape Erwin’s too perceptive gaze, she quickly packed up the board and headed toward the door. As she reached for the knob, Erwin’s soft voice stopped her. “Angel, thank you for the tea. That was very thoughtful.”

She turned to give him a smile, “You’re welcome, Commander. Don’t work too hard.” And with that, Angel turned and walked out the door into the dark hallway, carrying the heavy chess board. 

Even though it was getting late, there was still light coming from under Levi’s office door. Taking a deep breath, Angel knocked on the door.

“Enter,” she heard from within, in Levi’s deep monotone.

At seeing her standing in the doorway, Levi immediately stood from behind his desk, his usual disinterested mask in place. But Angel wasn’t fooled now.

“Peace offering?” she indicated the chess board she was carrying.

With relief, he nodded, motioning to the table where they normally played. Angel went to set up the board, and Levi went to fix tea. The tension in the room was sharp, but Angel was determined to overcome it. Levi hadn’t yet said a word, but she could feel his eyes on her, inscrutable in the dim light from the candle on his desk, and the firelight coming from the hearth.

As they settled in to play, Angel made the first move. She came out immediately aggressive in her first couple of moves. She saw Levi raise an eyebrow as she put her knight into play, while he studied the board. She wasn’t normally this aggressive. Angel watched him from under her lashes. His hair hung slightly over his eyes as he contemplated his next move, but it didn’t hide the slight discoloration shadowed under his right eye. She was slightly disgruntled to see that she hadn’t caused more damage with her hit earlier. “Nice face,” she said, rather tartly.

At this, he pulled his gaze from the board to her face. “I meant to congratulate you on a nice hit. Good to know my training has paid off.” His voice was slightly more husky than usual, but there was amusement lurking in his grey eyes.

“Yes, I learned well. Find a weakness and take advantage of it.” Her gaze bored into his and the strained atmosphere in the room escalated. She saw wariness enter his expression. “You never answered my question this morning. What do you want, Levi?” Angel said softly.

At this he shot to his feet and turned away, game forgotten. “No, I’m not doing this.” Angel reached for his hand before he could pull too far away from her. He didn’t take his hand back, but neither did he return the gesture. “Levi, please. Be honest with me. Be honest with yourself.”

She didn’t think he was going to answer her. He stood there, with his tense back to her and his hand loosely held in hers. And she waited. Finally, his head dropped forward and his shoulders drooped. “You,” he whispered, barely audible. “I want you. But I don’t know how to do that.”

He sounded so broken that Angel’s heart contracted in her chest.

He was still facing away from her, so she tugged on his hand until he turned around and slowly met her gaze. Angel caught her breath at the beautiful blue of his unguarded eyes. She smiled and stepped toward him, still holding his callused hand. She leaned forward and gently touched her lips to his. Angel expected him to take control of the kiss, but he held back. So she took another step forward to bring her body flush with his, slanted her head, and deepened the kiss. She could feel his heartbeat accelerate, and his hand slid around her back to hold her to him. At that encouragement, Angel slid her tongue between his lips to tangle with his. He groaned softly and gently kissed her back, moving his lips over hers, sweeping his tongue into her mouth to taste her. It was a kiss that lasted forever as they took their time tasting and savoring each other. Each thrust of Levi’s tongue ignited little wildfires along her skin as she imagined more carnal moves to come. The anticipation was bubbling up from her bones, surging through her blood and tingling as it broke through her skin everywhere he was touching her. At her sigh, she felt the large hand on her back tighten and pull her a tiny bit closer. His other hand came up to gently brush her cheek with his fingertips and then slid into her hair. His gentleness was her undoing and brought tears to her eyes. Angel knew what he was doing, exhibiting iron control in direct contrast to their last encounter. And while she loved this gentler side of Levi, she wanted more.

Angel slid her hands up his chest and began unbuttoning his linen shirt. His lips had traveled across her jawline to her ear and his nose nuzzled the delicate outer shell while his breath tickled and caused her to shiver. She was almost done with the buttons when Levi pulled back, cupping her face in both hands and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. As he took another step backward out of her reach and turned toward the door, Angel was afraid she had gambled and lost, and that he was going to ask her to leave. She watched as he walked to the door, the firelight turning his cream shirt a deep orange across his strong back. She was prepared to salvage what little pride she had left, and wondered if he would have her transferred out of his squad after this, when he stopped at the door and turned the lock. He then turned back toward her with those intense blue eyes and Angel felt her blood thrum heavily in her veins again. While holding her gaze, he slowly walked back toward her as he finished unbuttoning his shirt and shrugged it off his shoulders, letting it fall carelessly to the floor. Angel had seen him shirtless many times before as they trained and worked in the hot sun. But this was different. This was intimate, in his private quarters, with the only sound in the room the shifting logs in the fireplace. And the thought that she could touch him, anywhere and everywhere, was frightening in the intense desire it evoked. He came to a stop directly in front of her, but made no move to touch her. She gazed at his perfect body, noting the marks that mapped his years of battle, both above and below ground. He took her breath away.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his soft voice dropping into a lower register that had Angel shivering again. “I need to hear you say the words.”

In response, Angel reached down and pulled her shirt over her head. Goosebumps prickled her skin as the cool air hit her sensitive skin.

“I’m sure.” She stepped toward the heat of Levi, pressing her near-naked body to his as she leaned in to trail feather-like kisses along his collarbone. He still hadn’t moved, was still holding himself in check, when she opened her mouth to slide her tongue from his collarbone up the strong column of his throat to then close her teeth on the tender lobe of his ear.

At that, she felt a tremor go through his body and his arm clamped around her back, splaying a large hand on her ass, and drawing her closer to the heat of him. She gasped at the feel of his warm skin against her own, her breasts pressed against his hard bare chest, and she gasped at the feel of his erection against her stomach, even through the layers of his trousers and her skirt. Then his hands were stroking down her abdomen, deftly undoing the fastenings on her skirt and letting it fall to the floor.

His mouth finished its exploration of her jaw and returned to kiss her lips, this time taking control of the kiss and hungrily devouring her. Suddenly, he lifted Angel up and she grabbed onto his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her into his bedroom. Angel could feel her core grind against his hard length as he walked and her head fell back at the sweet friction. But it was gone too soon as he lowered her back to the ground next to his bed, gentling the kiss. There was no fire in here, so the air was chillier, but there was plenty of light to see from the glow coming through the doorway.

She knew he was determined to go slowly so she let him set the pace. His hands slowly slid up her sides to cup her breasts before his deft fingers found the front clasp of her bra and quickly sent it sailing over his shoulder. He then slid both of his hands under her panties down around the round globes of her ass, causing her remaining garment to fall to the floor. He stood back to look at her, steel blue gaze taking in her naked form. She was conscious that she, too, showed the scars of years of battle. But when his gaze locked with hers, she was entranced by the hunger she saw there. He was still in control as he glided his fingertips across the top of her chest, tracing a similar path that he traveled all those months ago when they were first training the Special Ops Squad. She knew he remembered when he looked back at her with a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. But this time, his fingers slid down and caressed the tip of one breast and then the other. Angel’s breath snagged at the feel of his callused fingers gently squeezing her nipple. She slid her hands around his waist and down to cup his ass and bring his hips more firmly again her own. He groaned softly at the friction as his erection got caught between them again. Then he reached down and grabbed behind her thigh, lifting her leg up over his hip so he could rub his hard length against her naked core.

“Levi,” she whispered on a breathless moan as her eyes slid shut. She grabbed his hard biceps to keep from falling as she balanced against his body.

_Levi struggled for control, as a trickle of sweat ran down the side of his face. The feel of her warm supple body in his hands, the breathless way she said his name, all had him wanting to do nothing more than throw her on the bed behind her and drive into her, fucking her until she screamed his name. But he wanted to make it last. He didn’t know what brought her to him tonight, and he didn’t know if he’d get another chance so he was going to make the most of now. To show her he was more than an animal. He knew he would later burn in the nine circles of hell they had read about in one of Erwin’s books. It seemed like a fitting punishment for his many crimes. He was compounding one sin with another. As a captain, he had never taken advantage of a subordinate before, as that was a strict code Erwin enforced among his officers. But gods, he couldn’t stop himself. The smell of her skin and the feel of her soft hair in his hands had him willing to barter what was left of his soul just to lose himself in her body one more time._

_Finally, she lay naked before him, a beautiful topography of sleek muscle and bone. There were scars, evidence of her life as a warrior. But Levi saw them rather as proof she was a survivor like him, and was here, now, alive and warm. He could feel his cock throbbing in the restricted confines of the trousers he still wore as he leaned over and placed a kiss on the scar on her shoulder before trailing his lips lower._

Angel felt like she was rolling on waves of pleasure, caught in the slow sensual web Levi was weaving. His lips were warm on her shoulder, then drifted down until she felt her nipple drawn into the hot wet recesses of his mouth. She arched against him, threading her hands through the silky strands of his hair, feeling the sweat running down his temples. She wanted to touch him, everywhere. He rested in the cradle of her thighs, holding his weight on one elbow while his mouth lavished attention on her breast. She hooked one leg around him so she could grind her core against the ridges of his abdomen. She heard his breath hiss between his teeth when he felt the wet heat of her glide against his skin. His free hand slid under her to cup her ass and hold her to him as he slid further down her body, soft black hair tickling her hips as his teeth nipped at a small scar there before soothing with a soft kiss. He ran his hand down the supple groove of muscle of her outer thigh before sliding up the tender skin of her inner thigh, gently parting her legs further to accommodate the width of his shoulders. Looking down her body, she had a glimpse of intense blue eyes behind a sweat-soaked fringe of black hair before he lowered his lips to the delicate pink shell of her core.

_Dear Maria, she was wet for him. As his lips and tongue feasted on the slick pink folds, Levi was reminded of a peach he once stole from a vendor’s cart when he was a boy. How after biting into the tender skin of the rare fruit, the sweet juices ran down his chin and he hurriedly licked them up so as not to lose a single precious drop. This time, he wasn’t in a hurry as he devoured the juicy peach before him, listening to the breathy cries of Angel as she writhed beneath his onslaught. Finally, his seeking tongue found the small pearl at her center._

Angel’s back arched as she threw her head back, an anguished groan escaping her lips as she came hard against Levi’s tongue. Her body felt like it was flung out into open air, free-falling without the safety of her gear, as bright lights flashed behind her eyes. She was completely unraveled as his hard grip on her hip kept her in place while he continued to lave attention at her core, wringing out the last shock waves of pleasure from her oversensitive flesh.

Dimly she was aware of his absence as he pulled away, gently disengaging from her tangle of legs. Before she could miss his heat, he was back, warm skin gliding along hers as he crawled up her body to once again nestle in the cradle of her thighs. The feel of his skin against hers woke up her satiated nerve endings and the realization that he had finally shed his fucking trousers brought her body roaring back to life as she felt the hard hot length of him against the soft skin of her inner thigh.

Her eyes were still closed as she sought to memorize the feel of his body with her hands: the broad strength of his shoulders, corded with muscle; the bunching of the muscles of his upper back and the bulge of his bicep as he balanced his weight on one elbow; the veins that roped down his bicep to his forearm; the strong lines of his throat and the cut of his hard jaw as he clenched his teeth, positioning himself at her entrance. She could feel his strength and power in every line of his body, she had seen that strength and power cut down monsters without breaking a sweat. And now all that strength and power was focused on her, reined in and contained, at her fingertips.

“Look at me,” he gritted out hoarsely. “Angel, look at me.”

She slowly opened her eyes to see Levi’s handsome face above her, hair damp with sweat, blue eyes intense on her face. His jaw was clenched tight as he struggled for control, poised at her entrance.

“Don’t hold back from me, Levi. I want all of you, even your darkness.”

With that, he surged into her, filling her emptiness, and causing them both to cry out at the sensation of her wet heat closing around his hard length. Levi held still for a moment, to give her body a chance to accommodate him. Then his hips started rolling as he pulled partially out and drove back in with a steady rhythm. His hand slid under her ass to hold her closer to him, enabling him to drive in deeper. Angel felt her body steadily climbing up to that pinnacle again. Looking up at Levi above her, his face tight with strain as he pumped into her, she was suddenly struck by his beauty. The stark cut of his face was more prominent once the mask of indifference had been dropped. Smiling she leaned up to lick a trickle of sweat from his throat and the scent of his skin caused her inner muscles to clench around him.

Levi stuttered in his rhythm as the feel of her muscles clenching around him nearly sent him over the edge.

“Fuck, Angel,” he ground out, before plunging into her again.

Angel reveled in the feel of making him lose control and as she tightened around him again, he lost all finesse and started driving into her with such force she had to brace herself against the headboard.

Suddenly she screamed his name as she was hurtled over the edge again. But this time, the feel of her coming apart in his arms sent Levi with her and he buried his face in her shoulder, groaning as his body released.

Levi took a moment to catch his breath, chest heaving as he lay naked among the covers. When he had recovered sufficiently, he got out of bed and wordlessly headed to the bathroom. Angel heard water running and smiled to herself, thinking that of course her neat freak captain had to immediately deal with the messiness of sex. After a minute, he emerged from the bathroom holding a cloth. In the dim firelight coming through the doorway from his office, she watched him walk toward her, admiring the animal grace in his naked body as he handed her the warm cloth. She tried to look at his face, but it was obscured by his hair and the gloom of the room. What was he thinking? He had yet to say anything. Suddenly, she recalled her argument with herself earlier in the day. Was this a one and done scenario? As she efficiently put the cloth to use, she refused to regret what happened, no matter what the eventual outcome may be. She glanced up again to see Levi moving around the room, picking up discarded clothing. She took that as her cue to leave and she left the bed to retrieve her clothing from the bedroom before moving into his office for the rest. She stood before the warmth of the fire and pulled on her clothes, hoping the fire would help the coldness seeping into her chest. She was running her hands through her hair, trying to tame the mess into something respectable, when she felt him walk up behind her. Angel turned to see that he had put his trousers back on as the firelight illuminated the sharp planes of his chest. She let her gaze roam over his face as he opened his mouth to say something before closing it again, raking his hand through his hair and keeping his gaze on the floor between them. 

She offered him a sad smile. “It’s okay, Captain. I understand. I’m a big girl and knew what I was doing when I came here tonight.”

At her words, his eyes shot to her face. “I want to see you again.”

The obvious surprise on her face elicited a sardonic quirk of his eyebrow. Angel grinned unapologetically. “You know where to find me.” As she turned toward the door, he caught her hand to stop her.

“I think you should transfer to Hanje’s squad,” he said quietly. Angel’s breath caught as he swept his thumb over her knuckles in a brief caress. Understanding the implications of transferring to another squad, she looked into his unguarded eyes and saw the same emotions she was feeling. There was sorrow over the loss of all their hard work, over the loss of no longer working together directly, and losing her squad mates. But she also saw a brief spark of hope, and it’s that spark she grabbed ahold of.

Smiling into his eyes, she turned to face him fully. “I think that’s a good idea. After all, I can’t un-see all this.” As she said this last statement, she gestured with her free hand up and down his nearly naked body.

That almost drew a smile from her stoic captain as he shot her a hot glance from under his lashes, then lowered his eyes to take in her body from head to toe and back up again. She felt the heat from his gaze as it scorched a path all the way up her fully clothed form before it came back to rest on her flushed face. He drew her towards him by their connected hands, bending his arm behind him so their joined hands rested in the small of his back, before he fused his lips to hers in a hot kiss that stole her breath. She pulled away, gasping and taking a step back from the heat of his body. She knew if she didn’t leave now, they were heading for round two, and they both had duties to attend to in the early morning. Levi acknowledged her decision with a reluctant nod and let her go.

Early the next morning, Levi strode into Erwin’s office and carefully placed the chess set on its table by the fireplace. Erwin barely looked up from his paperwork, once he saw who it was, but did a double take when he saw Levi set down the chess set.

“Thank you for the use of the board,” Levi said as he walked over to face Erwin across his desk. The clock on Erwin’s desk was loud in the silence that filled the room.

Erwin sat back in his chair and gazed at his captain.

“How did your match go?”

“Fine.”

“Who won?”

“It was a draw.”

“Angel is a fine chess player.”

“Yes.” With this, Levi lifted his chin the barest fraction in challenge.

For a moment, each man held his own as an unspoken understanding was reached, and Erwin dropped his gaze, nodding. With a sigh, he leaned forward in his chair and picked up the report he had been reading.

“One more thing. I think Hudson should be transferred to Hanje’s squad.”

Erwin waved his hand and nodded again, as if this was to be expected. “Draw up the paperwork and I’ll sign it.”

At that, Levi withdrew a packet of papers from the inside of his jacket and set it down on Erwin’s desk. Erwin jerked his sharp gaze up to meet that of Levi’s. For a moment, their gazes held again in silent communication. Then Levi nodded and headed for the door. He was almost to the door when Erwin’s soft voice stopped him.

“Levi.” Levi paused with his hand on the doorknob, but didn’t turn around. “Don’t hurt her.” Levi hesitated a moment longer before turning the knob and walking out into the hall. He was well aware that he hadn’t responded to Erwin. He wasn’t sure that was an order he could follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed my little romance. I was once upon a a time going to publish it with more of a plot other than the romance, and I have a bunch of other scenes of our couple that fit into the SnK world. But then I realized that, put together, they all cover too large of a time frame to make a good cohesive story. So I decided to just publish it as a romance, so you can enjoy the smut. I'll post the other one-shots too. 
> 
> Also, I've toyed with the idea of reworking some of this as a separate story, but having our heroine choose Team Erwin instead. I think there is a definite moment when that could have happened.
> 
> Cheers!


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